Dying is Overrated
by KiraLoveless
Summary: The first time I died, I was brought to another life. Then I kept dying. And coming back. Like a zombie with super healing. Why I keep dying you ask? Well, I have a twin brother who's possessed by a raging tiger spirit that takes over his body in the moonlight and has a tendency to kill me sometimes. Proooobably not a healthy relationship, but I love him anyways... haitus? Sorry!
1. Systems Reboot

**Okay, so each chapter is made directly after I watch an episode. Not the best method since the future plot is unclear, but hey, what's life without risks? I hope you guys enjoy this introduction to my story :)**

 **CHAPTER 1- Prologue**

When children are young, they are asked what they want to be in the future. Some say princesses, rock stars, or… some kind of a magical being. I among many others, said superhero.

When children have grown to be teenagers, the goal they chose may have changed. Perhaps into something that has the possibility of actually happening. I wanted to be a teacher... but not the type that most think of.

You see, when I young, my goal to become a superhero was met with the stubborn determination of a five year old girl on a mission. I badgered my parents into allowing me to take martial arts classes because what hero didn't know how to fight? I would make a pretty sad hero if I didn't.

In the following years, I took to learning how to wield a bo staff with zeal.

There were moments in time when I wanted so badly to quit, but my dream to become a hero kept me in my place. Looking back, I admit I was bit obsessed with the notion of heroism. Either way, I soldiered on with my strict classes, desperately balancing the demanding lessons and my middle through high school life.

But I digress.

One day, during my awkward life in high school, I decided I wanted to be like my sensei and teach people how to fight. This goal was met with the stubborn determination of a seventeen year old girl who had the brains and brawns to make that goal a reality.

Sure enough, my sensei ended up hiring me when the time came. He was quite the old man after all and needed the help. And so, I lived my life in contentment, teaching people how to be a badass. Everything was perfect.

But nothing ever stays that way.

It was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect and many people took advantage of it, me included. As it was my day off, I decided to take a leisurely walk through my city. It would've been a relaxing activity had the situation been different.

There was no other way for me to explain the scene I had happened upon.

A man was trying to rape a girl in a dark alley that not many bothered to pay attention to. With the traces of my early obsession of heroics still ingrained into me, it was no wonder I chose to do something.

Some way or another, I obtained a metal pipe and confronted the man. In all honesty, that was the stupidest decision I had ever made. After all, I neglected to check if he was armed- which he was, just so you know.

On the bright side, I had the element of surprise and nailed him in the head, effectively giving the girl enough time to run away. On the down side, I got shot in the process.

Nothing dramatic took place, really. I got shot in the side and ended up fainting from shock. Turns out I would never get the chance to wake up after that though because I ended up dying of blood loss soon after.

At least I died knowing I most likely took the bastard down with me. I didn't exactly hold back on that last headshot.

 **Please leave a review and tell me how it turned out :)**


	2. Simulation Activated

CHAPTER 2

When I died, I was expecting either fluffy, white clouds as floors or red hot, fiery pits of lava.

Instead, I was met with the Void- or what I'm led to believe is Purgatory.

Everything was black as far as the eye could see. There was no way to keep track of time in this place, but I knew I was here for a _long_ time. To be fair, I could understand why I was stuck here. I _did_ kill a guy just before I kicked the bucket. I totally understood, but that never stopped me from screaming out profanities into the Beyond until my voice grew hoarse from time to time when the situation was too much for me to handle.

It was the only thing I could think of to keep myself sane. Here, I was on my own with nothing but my thoughts to keep my company. The complete silence and blackness was agonizing because there was NOTHING and I was all- aloneallalone _alonescreaming_ **darkness** everywhere _nothingness_ NOTHING _NOTHING_ ** _BLACK_ NOTHING- **quiet. Oh so quiet.

Statistically speaking, a human is guaranteed to grow mentally insane after spending 72 hours of inactivity and complete isolation ( _I'm not alone,_ **_listen to the shadows whispering_ ).** I exceeded that time a looong time ago and I was not expecting to come out of this completely sane. _If_ I ever got out of here ( **The Abyss welcomes all with open arms-** _SHUT. UP_!).

I could feel the string of profanities forming on my lips at the reminder that I would be stuck here for possibly forever. My rage ( _fear_ ) was bubbling, threatening to spill over as I took in a deep breath to start shrieking my head off again ( _To make the stupid voices go away, to drown out it's terrifying sound in my head_ ).

But I never got the chance as a small cry interrupted me before I could get a word past my lips. As someone who has not heard from another soul for who knows how long ( **Don't ignore me-** _you're not real, shut up_ ), that particular sound was like a choir of angels singing into my ears. I wasted no time in pinpointing the source of the beautiful sound.

It was a baby.

It was an honest to god baby swaddled in a white, fluffy blanket.

Any positive feeling I had at thought of company quickly went down the drain. There was a baby with me. In _Purgatory_! What did it do, kill an ant by sitting on it?

Moving limbs I almost forgot even worked, I slowly waded over to the baby. And when I say waded, I mean I doggy paddled my way through space because the Void didn't have the decency to provide a ground to stand on.

Either way, I eventually reached the wailing baby and carefully wrapped my arms around it. Without really thinking about it, I gently held the baby to my chest and began to coo comfortingly. I knew that this place was terrifying, but I wouldn't how it felt as a vulnerable baby.

"What's a baby boy like you doing in this hellhole?" I muttered to myself, rocking the baby. If my grip was slightly tight and just a tad bit possessive, I ignored it. Thankfully, the baby stopped crying and opted to wave a teeny tiny hand over my shoulder. I let out a sigh, "How does one go about taking care of a baby in the middle of nowhere?"

I paused my rocking motion and blinked in horror as realization hit me, "... You're a dead baby."

The baby in question chose this moment to let out a whine and frantically wave his little fist over my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow and turned to look over my shoulder, "What is wrong with-"

My jaw dropped incredulously, "No. Fucking. Way."

There, just a few measly yards in front of me, was a white light.

Hope flooding into my being at the sight of the extremely cliche white light. Any form of logic I managed to salvage in my brain was quickly thrown out the proverbial window. That. _That_ was my ticket out of this shithole. Stumbling, I took a step (When did the floor appear?) towards the white light. Panic immediately overcame me when the the light promptly started retreating at a swift pace.

"H-Hey… Wait!" I choked, running after the light with the baby cradled closely to my chest. All the previous hope I had was fading away as the light grew further with every desperate step I took. I struggled to chase after the light, panting from the sudden exertion.

I wasn't going to make it. I took in shallow breaths, my arms and legs feeling like lead. The baby was holding me down. I wasn't going to make it.

Glancing down at the little baby, I steeled my nerves and made my decision. There could only be one. **Leave it,** the Voice whispered in my ear, **save yourself.** Nodding my head in determination, I held the baby away from me. Moving before I had the chance to change my mind, I sucked in a breath and chucked the baby into the light.

Relief washed over me when he made it through and I immediately collapsed onto my knees, adrenaline still rushing through my veins. Staring as the white light quickly faded away, I was left with the oppressing silence once more. There was a pause before I let out a hysterical laugh, tears running down my cheeks.

I blew it.

I lost what was probably my only chance to get out of here. All for a baby I knew for less than five minutes. I wiped away my tears with my arm and shakily grinned into the darkness.

 _It was worth it._

I paused at the thought before widening my eyes in horrified realization.

 _Oh my god. I_ ** _threw_** _a baby into an unknown portal._

That was all I could think before I was attacked by white.

Although it was unknown to me at the time, that was my second death. Apparently reincarnation was a thing and I had the " _fortune_ " to be reborn. I say this sarcastically because I entered the world as a stillborn. Turns out my mother was going to have twins, but an accident happened.

The baby that I unceremoniously chucked through the light turned out to be my twin brother. I like to think that it was due to my actions that he was able to be delivered successfully… Ignoring the fact that I threw him like an oversized football… Anyways, going back to me.

I was a stillborn.

After the blinding white light disappeared, I found myself back in the Void. Only this time, I didn't have to stay as long because the white light appeared again. I didn't repeat my mistake a second time and took a leaping jump into it without hesitation.

I was a miracle.

Well, according to the doctors. I was a stillborn, but after a few minutes in my mother's heartbroken embrace, I "came back to life". Everyone was surprised, I'm sure.

I only lasted a minute within the chaos before I sank into a deep sleep.

The third time I died, I didn't even notice, but I knew I still woke up in the body of the ex-stillborn baby. It wasn't until the seventeenth time I died that I figured out I was going to keep coming back to that fragile meatbag of a body.

As sad as it is to admit it, it took another twenty-seven deaths for me to coherently realize that my teeny tiny twin brother was my murderer. Well, not _him_ him. A spirit was taking over his body to kill indiscriminately. Unfortunately for me, as his twin, I was always the nearest to him.

No, really.

I kid you not, my brother was being possessed by a raging spirit that came at night every now and then. The spirit of an adolescent tiger to be exact. I decided after a couple of revisits to the Void that I wasn't going to question the weirdness of my new life. A life was a life after all, no matter how supernatural it seemed (and how many times I died).

Near-death experience number four taught me that I could heal myself at an exponential rate, though I could not control it. Death thirty-two proved that it wasn't enough to save me when my throat was ripped out by the jaws of a tiger. To be completely honest, I treated my first one hundred deaths as an experiment to gauge my newfound ability. It was enlightening (especially when you throw yourself down flights of stairs or off the roof), though the constant need to replace my clothes was annoying.

Should I be disturbed about my seemingly continuous deaths? Probably, but that kind of thing becomes irrelevant after being thrown into the Void for who knows how long. At least dying meant something. When I was in the Void, I was _nothing_. It was just me and Darkness, and even then I couldn't say I was _me_ (it was _the Voice_ ). Call me crazy, but I prefer dying via tiger than staying in that hellhole any longer than the few seconds it takes for me to revive.

Turns out dismemberment takes a lot longer to heal which meant a longer time in the Void. The few seconds was lengthened to minutes. But hey, that was still manageable.

This lifestyle was far from perfect (and was definitely not healthy), but I grew to like it. When I reached age five, I decided that ignoring everything around me in favor of experimenting on my powers was counterproductive and that I was in need of social interaction. That meant I actually left the room I stayed in for the majority of my new life.

The first thing I learned was that my surname was Nakajima, my name being Akira (something that did not change from my first life, thankfully). The second thing I learned was that my twin was energetic, clingy, and had a severe case of low self-esteem. The third was that we currently resided in an orphanage (not at all drabby as I expected it to be) that shunned my brother.

Heroism kicking into gear, I wasted no time in establishing that I was taking no shit from my brother's verbal abusers. My body may be pathetically weak and unconditioned, but my mind still knew what to do with anything resembling a pole. Long story short, I gave quite a lot of children concussions with a few caretakers mixed in.

There were moments where the situation got so bad, I blanked out in a rage but other than that, I was well behaved. The caretakers were wary of me, but eased knowing that unless my anger was triggered, I was the perfect angel.

When I deemed myself old enough to be able to handle the training, I set out to relearn the art of the bo staff. And what better way to start conditioning my body than to run for my life as a tiger chases after me? Getting back into shape was grueling work, but I somehow managed.

One of the advantages of already knowing how to do things was that it was easy to regain the skill level I had much earlier than the first time around. It was difficult getting around the caretakers to complete my much needed training, but my twin served as the perfect distraction. His self-pitying monologues never failed to reap the attention of anyone within his vicinity.

Surprisingly enough, it never got old, even after 18 years...

"Kira-chan, you shouldn't be out of bed!" My brother's panicked voice suddenly broke me out of my thoughts. I blinked from my spot next to the window, my old scratchy blanket wrapped around me like a shabby cape. I sneezed and the dull ache in my head came back with a vengeance.

Oh, right. For all my amazing healing ability, it did not include minor illnesses. Stupid powers.

He let out a stressed sigh and ushered me towards the ratty futon the two of us shared in our small room. I rolled my eyes as my brother tucked me in like a child, "Relax Tsu-kun, it's only a cold."

Atsushi wrung his hands worriedly, "B-But we don't have any medicine to-"

"It's _fine_." I said, resolutely ignoring the crack in my voice, "I'll be better by tomorrow."

He let out a defeated sigh and plopped down next to me, absentmindedly twisting some of my white blonde hair with his fingers. The perfect blend of yellow and purple that usually sparkled in his eyes started to darken.

I let out an irritated groan and reached up to smack his head, "Stop it. I know you're mentally calling yourself useless again and we both know that isn't true."

"It's my fault you got sick." He said sulkily, a dark cloud hanging over him. I ignored his dramatics and rolled to my side to get more comfortable, "Don't be stupid."

"But it's true!" Atsushi agonized, pulling at his hair, "I always end up at different places at night without even realizing it and you always end up being the one to bring me back. Last time it was raining pretty hard and it was cold and- Arrrggghhh, It's all my fault! It's because I sleepwalk that you got sick and I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you-"

I tuned out my brother's customary monologue/rant in favor of dealing with my pounding headache, aching body, burning throat, runny nose, and itching red eyes. Damn, I've never gotten _this_ sick during my life here. Ugh, I'm half-convinced to kill myself so that my body could "reset" and this damnable illness could go away. But I can't do that with Atsushi watching over me so closely. Traumatizing him was not an option, seeing as his mental state was never perfect to begin with.

Getting my twin's ghost/ spirit animal to come out and do the deed would be challenging too. Ever since we were moved to our current room, Atsushi barely had any exposure to the moonlight. Of course, that was because I eventually got tired of dying via sharp teeth almost daily and made a point to cover up the window every night.

Speaking of windows, it was almost getting to nighttime and I hadn't covered the windows for today. Stirring from my extremely comfortable spot, I pushed myself up. My vision immediately started swimming and my arms threatened to fail on me, but I sucked it up and moved into a sitting position.

Oh god, regrets. I think I'm gonna puke.

"Kira-chan…" Atsushi practically whined as he gently pushed me back down, "Just go to sleep already."

"Later." I grunted gruffly, pushing my waist length hair out of my face where it decided to block my vision. Now to get to that window…

"Sleep." He said firmly and before I could protest, started running his fingers through my hair. Against my will, I practically melted like putty under his hands. I fought valiantly to stay awake, but I was no match for the soothing strokes on my head.

Curse my weakness.

I barely lasted a minute before I was pulled into a deep sleep.


	3. Designated Guide

**Hello my lovely readers, it is I, the-super-late-updater. Like seriously, I planned on updating the chapter but I had some problems going on with my laptop. Because of that, I have a few chapters ready to go following this update, so look forward to that :)**

 **Also, I'm dressing a few concerns that was brought to my attention. This could count as a spoiler, it could not, depends on your perspective. The voices are a key part to the ending of my story and it wouldn't be the same without them. I'm sorry if this bothers some of you, but I'm taking them out. The ending is all planned out, so it's a bit too late to change anything at this point. Sorry again.**

 **Anyways, on to the chapter!**

 **CHAPTER 3**

When I woke up, I was only slightly delirious. There was a bowl of hot, watery soup and a cup of watered down tea beside me, but Atsushi was nowhere in sight. With a shrug, I consumed the food and went straight back to sleep.

I didn't wake up again until late in the afternoon. Atsushi was still not there. I frowned before inspecting my body. After flexing for a bit, I deemed myself strong enough to walk around.

Walking out of the room, I went over to the neighboring room and knocked. A boy of ten years opened the door and looked at me curiously. Clearing my throat, I asked, "What did I miss while I was out of it? Where's my brother?"

The boy bit his lip nervously and looked everywhere but at me. I narrowed my eyes and re-asked my question, though my tone was no longer pleasant and sounded much more annoyed.

"U-Uh-Umm…" The boy stuttered, shifting his body behind the door as if to use it as a shield, "T-The matron didn't tell us an-anything, really."

Irritation seemed to swell up within me. My head hurt, my body was sore, and this kid's stuttering was ticking me off. I wanted my brother and I wanted him _now_. Taking in a deep breath, I pasted on a smile and did my best to be nonthreatening, "Tell me, I won't get mad. Promise."

The boy looked warily at me for a minute before speaking, "I h-heard that a lot of things got destroyed last night and the matron got really a-angry. It's not the first time though… All the chickens were k-k-killed and the chicken coup is a t-total mess. The crops were ruined too..."

I cocked my head to the side, keeping the smile on my face to encourage him, "Where's my brother?"

He immediately paled and let out a soft whimper, "I d-don't know."

The smile froze on my face as my eyes seemingly sharpened, "Where. Is. He?"

"He doesn't know, Nakajima." A feminine voice answered coldly from behind me. I turned to smile at the newcomer, though it was a tad bit feral, "Oh? And do _you_ know?"

A girl of my age stood confidently before me, her eyes shining in defiance. I mentally sneered. She was one of the few fools who did not believe I could hurt them. Severely.

The girl shook her head, "No one knows. Matron blamed him for everything that's been happening for awhile now and kicked him out a few hours ago."

"Which direction did he go?" I demanded impatiently. She frowned, "I'm not going to tell you."

"And why the hell not?!" I growled. The girl sighed, "You're still sick, Nakajima. It'll only get worse if you go out there."

"I don't give a fuc-"

"Look." The girl said flatly, "I get it, he's your brother, but you're not thinking straight right now. Rest for at least another day to regain your strength before you go off to look for Nakajima number two. That'll at least give me enough time to throw some things together for your trip."

My rising anger stuttered to a stop, incredulousness quickly taking over. I stared at the girl with wide eyes, "Why would you…"

The girl gave a strained smile, putting a supportive arm over the boy I had forgotten was even there, "Not all of us are lucky enough to have kin in this place. Family is something we all want and you have it in your brother. It'd be wrong to separate you two."

I was honestly shocked by her words. I had never really bothered to get to know all the other orphans. I knew they were there and vice versa, but neither party ever attempted to bridge the gap. They were all strangers to me and yet, here was this girl, ready to help me run away despite knowing nothing of me. I didn't even know her name.

Swallowing my pride, I nodded in acquiescence, "You're right. Going out there like this wouldn't do me any good."

The girl smiled and moved to usher me back to my room, leaving the boy at his door. I obediently walked back into my room while she stopped at the door. She sent me a reassuring smile, "Nakajima-kun couldn't have gotten far and most likely won't be. He isn't one to leave without his sister."

That would've reassured me had I not known Atsushi was possessed by a tiger spirit. Without shelter, Atsushi was undoubtedly going to be exposed to the moon. There was no guarantee that the spirit (whom I affectionately/sarcastically named Taiga) would stay within this vicinity during its nightly prowls.

Not relaying any of my apprehension, I nodded with a smile and closed my door.

Turning around, I inspected the room. Being in an orphanage meant there wasn't much one could own. I realized, with a sneer, that the caretakers didn't even have the decency to give my brother any of his few personal belongings.

With a huff, I slowly moved around the room, collecting our items. The process was slow going since I wanted to prevent any potential headaches from forming due to any fast movements. By the time I managed to put everything into a ragged backpack I salvaged a few years back, I was dead tired.

With a groan of exertion, I crawled into the futon I neglected to put away when I first woke up. The moment my head hit the pillow, I was knocked out for the count.

After what felt like minutes, but was hours in reality, I was shaken awake by the girl from yesterday. I groggily rubbed at my eyes, feeling surprisingly refreshed as I sat up within my blanket cocoon. Blinking blearily at the window, I realized that it was early in the morning. _Really_ early in the morning.

"I know it's early, but it's the best time for you to leave without drawing anyone's attention." She whispered, backing up so I could stand. Shivering from the cold air, I used my blanket as an impromptu shawl.

The girl moved to the door and picked up a bundle from the floor. I looked on in curiosity as she approached me. She handed me the small bundle, "I managed to sneak in a bit of food that will probably last you a day or two depending on how you ration. I used one of the better quality blankets to wrap the food in, but it won't get dirty from it so you can use it. I tried to get a good one, but someone was entering the laundry room so I took the first thing I could reach. Sorry about that."

I shook my head and smiled in thanks, "No, it's more than enough."

I shuffled over to my backpack. Our belongings combined barely filled up the bag, so the bundle fit into it quite nicely. I walked over to the door and slipped on my shoes. Standing back up, I shot a look at the girl who stood next to my futon with a look of expectation on her face.

Slowly, I turned towards her and softly said, "... Thank you."

The girl blinked in surprise before letting out a huff of laughter, "I think that's the first time I've heard you say thank you with my own two ears."

I gave her a crooked grin, "Not many do anything to deserve it."

Smiling, the girl handed me my backpack. I took it and swiftly settled it on my back, pulling up my hair that was stuck in between. Giving a decisive nod, I walked over to the window I planned to jump out of. I sucked in a breath as a blast of cold air slammed into me when I opened the window.

Swing my legs over the ledge, I paused and turned back. Hesitantly, I asked, "Why are you helping me?"

A sad smile stretched across her lips as her eyes softened with a look of empathy, "No one deserves to be taken away from their brother."

There was nothing else to say, so I silently nodded before turning to face forward. I pushed myself off the ledge and firmly planted my feet on the ground. With a salute to the girl, I walked away from the orphanage and never looked back.

~.~.~

Looking for my brother was challenging, but it was doable. When asking people if they've seen my lookalike didn't work, I had to switch gears and start tuning in to any and all rumors about a tiger on the loose. It should've been easy enough, but…

"These rumors are leading me on a wild goose chase!" I growled in frustration on the fifth day of my search. I was currently at a park somewhere in Tsurumi. The sun had just went down, so it was just me and the darkness.

I froze as a sudden weight had fallen upon my shoulders.

"Oh _hell_ to the fucking no." I reflexively cursed at the regrettably familiar feeling of a presence settling into the back of my mind. It had begun appearing right after one of my feverish episodes during one of the days out in the cold. I blame my weakened state and I cursed at the fact that I didn't know how to get rid of it.

 ** _Hello_.**

"SHUT UP!" I roared, jumping up to my feet, "Why the hell are you back anyway?! It's been years!"

 _ **I never left.**_

I froze at the Voice's answer before gritting my teeth in anger, "Well why don't you stay out of my way like you have been up until a week ago?"

 _ **Taiga.**_

"T-Tai...ga?" I stuttered in surprise. What did the tiger spirit have anything to do with the Voice that had been in my mind since before the spirit came along?

"What are you? Why the hell do you want the damn cat?!" I yelled.

The Voice stayed silent.

"Answer the damn question!"

I took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself. Screaming at something no one else could hear would not help my image of sanity. Nor was it getting me anywhere.

"Why do you want Taiga?"

 _ **A necessity.**_

"What." I said flatly, not able to comprehend the Voice's words.

 _ **A safeguard.**_

That didn't help to clarify anything, I thought with a groan. Shaking my head, I asked, "What is it to you?"

 _ **They were here.**_

I blinked, "They? Tsu-kun was here? Can you follow their trail or something?"

 _ **Yes.**_

My eyebrow twitched, "That was a yes to which question?"

 _ **All.**_

I let out a put upon sigh, but immediately perked up as realization hit me, "You can find him!"

 _ **Yes.**_

"I can't believe I'm listening to the voice in my head." I tiredly ran a hand through my oily hair, "Alright. Can you lead me to him?"

 _ **No.**_

I choked before yelling incredulously, "Why the hell not?!"

 _ **Wait til sunrise.**_

I let out another agonized sigh and plopped back onto the park bench. There was nothing I could do about the situation. The Voice was my chance in finding my stupid wayward twin. I couldn't risk it changing its mind. "Guess I'm camping out here for tonight then-"

 _Groooooowwwwwwl~_

I sulked pitifully as my empty stomach made itself known. I hadn't eaten in days and _man_ was it taking a toll on me. Ignoring the stomach pains once more, I pulled out my blanket and got comfortable- well as comfortable as I could get on a wooden bench.

"... Goodnight." I hesitantly said to the Voice.

It wasn't long before I fell asleep.


	4. Initiation

**CHAPTER 4**

Yokohama.

That was where my brother was.

The Voice knew that my wayward twin was in that area, but refused to pinpoint his location unless we were closer. The following days included the tiring trek to Yokohama and a tentative friendship between the Voice and I.

The Voice was most likely female, with her high pitched tone, despite being monotone. Of course, I could do without the comments about "going back to the Abyss where it's much safer". Hell would freeze over before I willingly chose to stay in the Void.

As time went by, the Voice's words gradually began to lengthen and she turned out to be somewhat talkative whenever no one was within my vicinity. By the second day of our interaction, I decided to name her Mira.

Why Mira? Well, it's the same reason why I named the tiger spirit Taiga. It sounded like "tiger" in English. I see the Voice as the dark to my light, the yin to my yang if you catch my drift. Basically, she's Mira because she's my "mirror". Haha, get it? It's like saying 'mirror' with a Japanese accent. Not the best way to name things, but hey, you do you and I do me.

Anyways, it wasn't until practically two weeks after leaving the orphanage that I finally got close enough to potentially finding Atsushi. I could feel that today was the day. I mean, I even got a free meal from an elderly lady who took pity on me (after I fainted from fatigue). If that isn't luck, I don't know what is.

"We're finally here." I muttered to myself as I stood on a bridge over a river. Looking over the scenery before me, I couldn't help but smile, "This Cat and Mouse game is finally going to end."

 _ **Night is coming.**_

Any form of peace radiating from me immediately crashed and burned as I frantically looked around, "Can you trace him from here?!"

 _ **Yes.**_

I immediately sagged in relief. No way was I going to lose him when I was so close.

 _ **Follow.**_

I took off sprinting as I followed Mira's one worded directions.

Night is fast approaching, so I'd probably have to find a weapon just in case. As I zipped through the streets, I slowly realized that we were headed towards a warehouse of some sort. Perfect, maybe I could get my hands on a metal pole or something.

Smiling at the thought of a spar with Taiga, I sped up. It's been too long, I'll need the exercise. It wasn't long before I found myself behind a box of crates just outside the building. I put my backpack down just in time to hear the resounding roar of a certain tiger from within.

I quickly scanned the area around me and couldn't help but smirk at my luck. I picked up the 6ft metal pole and ran through a kata. My smirk widened as the pole twirled in my hand, "Not perfect, but good enough."

With that, I skillfully climbed the large crates up to an open window that overlooked the inside. I grimaced when I saw a man in a tan trench coat standing right in front of my twin who was in the process of transforming into Taiga. Great, a witness.

Strangely enough, the brown haired man didn't look all too surprised about a huge tiger growling threateningly at him. In fact, he looked a bit bored as he spoke, though I was too far to hear what he was saying.

There was a moment where I contemplated allowing Taiga to kill him. There would no witnesses if the man was dead after all. Unfortunately, my moral compass declared I would not make a murder out of my brother. That meant I would have to deal with the witness some other way. After I got Taiga to back off.

With a shrug, I readied myself when I saw Taiga's muscles coiling in preparation of a bounding leap that would snap the poor man in two. With a excited grin, I threw myself through the window just as Taiga sprung into the air.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" I couldn't help but shout with glee as I crashed feet first into Taiga's side with enough force to send him flying into a pile of crates. Any and all damages my legs gained from the impact was quickly healed as I flipped to land in front of the stunned man.

I spun the metal pole with a flick of a wrist and assumed a ready position before calling out to Taiga who was shaking himself free from the broken crates, "Taiga, I thought we had an agreement about not eating any human other than me."

I was answered with an angry snarl as he lunged at me with his jaws wide open. Without really thinking about it, I roughly pushed the man out of the way before ducking under the attack. Unfortunately for me, Taiga had sparred with me long enough to be able to predict some of my actions and managed to slice at my back.

Fortunately for me, I knew his movements too and jerked far enough for his claws to only rip through my shirt. Cursing as I rolled onto my feet, I glared at him, "That was my last shirt, goddammit!"

Ignoring the cool breeze against my back, I used the metal pole to vault over Taiga's form and landed on a stack of crates. I knew better than to directly attack him when I was significantly weaker. Taiga growled at me from within the crater he created. My muscles tensed in anticipation at Taiga's next attack, but I ended up almost falling over when he shot in the opposite direction I was expecting.

"Oh-?" Came a smooth baritone in the directing Taiga attacked. The resulting crashing of wooden crates made me curse, "Shit, I forgot about the dude!"

My worry for the man was unnecessary in the end when I saw him gracefully jump away from the danger. My jaw practically dropped to the ground as I watched the man prance around the warehouse like some ballet dancer with a raging tiger on his tail.

The shock, however, was swiftly replaced with panic when the man found himself sliding into a brick wall. I was just about ready to throw myself in front of him as a meatshield when he spoke, his voice calm and even as if he wasn't just jumping all around the warehouse, "It wouldn't be so bad to meet one's end being eaten by a beast…"

His eyes alone stopped me in my tracks. It shown with cold determination, detached from the situation like some emotionless puppet, "But you cannot kill me."

I couldn't help but gasp in awe as a power surge exploded from his hand in a bright, white light. Glowing blue ribbons made up of what looked like words circled around the light like a nuclear atom before shooting out to wrap around Taiga's body the moment the man touched him. The man stared at Taiga blankly, "My ability is… _No Longer Human_."

The resulting blast of wind from the counterattack forced me to let go of my weapon to grip tightly on to the crate until my knuckles grew white in fear of being blown away.

"My ability allows me to render any other ability null… through simple touch." The man calmly explained amongst the chaos. The world exploded into white.

I gritted my teeth and squinted my eyes to keep an eye on my brother who's transformation was slowly being undone within the light.

Then everything stopped.

The pressure of power suddenly disappeared without a trace and I was left staring at the scene in shock. I quickly snapped out of it though, when my brother began to tip over. The man neatly caught him against his chest and there was a pause before he boredly said, "I have no such tastes in men."

The man promptly pushed Atsushi away for him to fall again. Without hesitation, I launched myself from my perch and neatly caught my twin before his body met the ground. Sighing in relief, I gently laid his unconscious form down. I stared at his adorably scrunched up face and mumbled tiredly, "You're more trouble than you're worth, Tsu-kun."

Turning to look at the witness, I cocked my head to the side, "Who are you?"

The man was not given the chance to answer when another voice called out, "Oi, Dazai!"

A man with dirty blonde hair tied into a low ponytail ran up to us, his glasses glinting in the moonlight. The man I assumed to be called Dazai casually greeted the newcomer in a much higher pitched voice, "Oh, you're late, Kunikida-kun."

Dazai boredly looked at us and said to the blonde, "I've captured the tiger."

I froze at his words. Captured? Were they trying to arrest Atsushi? No… not arrest. They know about Taiga, so… they wanted Atsushi as a science experiment! Well, over my dead body- which meant something since I couldn't even die properly.

"What, it's this boy?" Kunikida said as he scrutinized us, "Who's the lookalike?"

I answered him with a glare and a growl not unlike Taiga's own. With my dirty, messy long hair, ratty orphan clothes, and piercing yellow-purple eyes, I certainly looked feral enough.

"He has the ability to turn into a tiger." Dazai answered before glancing at me, "She's probably the twin Atsushi was going on about… She seemed nicer in his descriptions."

I sneered at the insult, "At least I'm not some creepy old man leading helpless teenagers into warehouses to do questionable things."

"Old?" Dazai looked at me amusedly. I smirked, "You didn't deny the rest, you creepy child molester."

Dazai looked scandalized while Kunikida sighed in exasperation.

I huffed and looked away from them as if to dismiss their presence. In reality, I was trying to figure out how far the metal pole landed from my position and how long it would take me to retrieve it. Leaving Atsushi's body unprotected was not an option and I had to refrain from biting my lip in frustration. While I know how to fight hand-to-hand, I was much more confident in my skills with a staff.

During my internal conflict, Kunikida had turned to Dazai and held up a slip of paper, "What was with this note?"

I silently watched at Dazai adopted an innocent look and read the paper out loud. Apparently, it was a note detailing a basic plan to capture Atsushi. Of course, it mentioned nothing about a time and gave no hint as to who the tiger was. It was no wonder Kunikida was so irritated with the man.

"Thanks to you, I had to bring in guys who weren't even on call."

I tensed even more when a group started shuffling into the warehouse. A young blonde boy ran up to us with a cheerful grin, a smartly dressed woman following after him. The woman looked at us with an unimpressed purple eyes, "What, no casualties? How boring."

" _Would you like to be one_?" I muttered hotly under my breath. This wasn't good at all. With this many people, my chances of getting us out of here was quickly dwindling.

"You've come a long way, Dazai." A boy looking around my age walked over, sporting a hat that effectively covered his eyes at a certain angle, "Though you still have ways to go before you even come close to me."

"Hello!"

I gave a start in surprise when the blonde boy appeared beside me from nowhere. I warily stared at him for a moment before quietly greeting him back, "... Hello."

He beamed at me, "I'm Miyazawa Kenji. You are?"

"Nakajima." I answered, purposefully leaving my first name out. However, that turned out to be a wasted effort because Dazai happily stepped in, "Her name's Nakajima Akira. Her brother is Nakajima Atsushi."

I shot him a look of utter disdain, though inside I was absolutely seething at his audacity.

Miyazawa blinked at my brother with wide, innocent - _tainted_ **dark** _uncaring-_ looking eyes, "What are we going to do with them? He didn't know he was doing it, right?"

I rolled back on my heels, ready to make a break for it with my brother despite the disadvantages. At times like this, I wished I had an offensive ability like Atsushi's. What good was super healing in a situation like this?

"Yeah, you're right." Kunikida agreed with a sigh before turning to Dazai, "What do you think, Dazai? The ward's designated him as a major threat."

"Taiga doesn't kill humans." I was quick to defend. Killing only me didn't really count. "Only other animals."

Dazai shot me an amused look before chuckling lightly, "I've already made a decision."

Any derisive comment I planned on voicing immediately died on my lips when I saw his expression change. I didn't know how to explain it, but I… I _knew_ that look on his face. It was just like… just like…

It was the exact same expression my parents shared with me at my older brother's funeral in my first life. Was it understanding? Sympathy? _Pity_? I didn't know how to describe that look, but I knew that anyone who had it meant they were suffering or had suffered.

It was at that very moment I decided (very idiotically and rashly) that Dazai deserved a family, even if the family we had right now was pathetically miniscule. I honestly cannot say why this decision came to be, but I do know that I won't keep my word. It was a declaration in the heat of the moment and I was already criticising myself not a second later.

I was broken out of my thoughts when Dazai's expression turning into a more cheerful (but suddenly _fake_ looking) one, "We'll make him one of us."

"You're not taking him from me." I found myself saying. I just got him back, like hell was I gonna hand him over. Besides, since when did Dazai start calling the shots?

Dazai casually shrugged, "Come with us."

Dazai's colleagues seemed to have something similar in mind as me since they all shot him varying degrees of the same disbelieving expressions. Well, except the blonde one. He seemed pretty supportive of it, what with his sparkling eyes.

The guy with the hat chuckled, "Dazai, you _are_ an idiot."

The woman seemed to agree while Kunikida kept staring with his jaw dropped open. After a second though, he seemed to recover and immediately switched to anger, "What gives you the right to decide that?!"

Ignoring the loudness around me, I opted to softly poke Atsushi's side, "Tsu-kun… Tsu-kun, wake up."

His face was starting to scrunch up adorably again.

With a sigh, I shook his shoulder, "Tsu-kun, aren't you going to hug your sister? I put a lot of effort into finding you, you know…"

"Sister?" He mumbled quietly, eyes still shut tight. I rolled my eyes, "What, did you forget about your own twin already?"

Miyazawa giggled quietly as he watched us. After a few seconds, Atsushi froze and immediately snapped his eyes open as realization hit him. He practically threw himself at me with a cry, "Kira-chan! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"But when did you get here?" Atsushi asked, clutching me like a teddy bear. He slowly turned around after finally noticing the extra company and whispered in the corner of his mouth, "And who are they?"

"Do you remember nothing at all from when you were transformed?" Dazai asked in curiousity. Atsushi furrowed his brows in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh." Dazai blinked and almost casually said, "But your right hand is still there."

Robotically, I turned my head to look at Atsushi's hand. Sure enough, it was a tiger's paw. My twin seemed to realize that too and promptly let out a scream. He jumped to his feet, moving his paw as far away from his body as he could physically manage, "Wh-What the? What's this?! What the hell?!"

I grabbed his flailing arm and closely inspected it. I ran my hand through the fur and blinked in wonder, "It's as soft as Taiga's."

Maybe this was his freebee or something. I mean, I have super healing and Mira hasn't even taken over my body. Perhaps shifting body parts to a tiger's is his version of my healing. It was certainly plausible.

"You already knew of Atsushi's ability, didn't you?" I heard Dazai asked in between Atsushi's panicked wails. I cocked my head to the side, "Of course. He's my twin."

I would be blind not to notice my brother being possessed by a spirit of a tiger.

"You're not afraid of the Man-Eating Tiger?"

I narrowed my eyes at the question and almost bitingly answered back using a variation of his own words, "He cannot kill me."

Dazai looked at me with cool interest, "You are gifted."

"No." I answered, "I'm his sister."

"'We had an agreement about not eating any human other than me.' 'He cannot kill me.'" Dazai recited my words back to me with a smile, "Quite the bold statements, hmm?"

By this time, Atsushi had calmed down and now everyone was silently watching us. I frowned, "He is my brother, I trust him."

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Let's not forget to mention the fact that you jumped from a height of 80ft without acquiring any injuries."

"You _what_?!" Atsushi choked. I scowled, "The tiger cushioned my fall."

It was a lame excuse and we both knew it.

"How do you explain the slashes on your back disappearing?" He continued to press on, skillfully ignoring Atsushi's panicked cries.

"He _missed_." I growled. Dazai blinked at me, "He didn't."

"There's blood on the back of your clothes." The guy with the hat pointed out oh so helpfully.

Wait… But how? I didn't feel it-

 ** _I healed it._**

What.

 _ **Be grateful your pain receptors were numbed.**_

That… That explains things. Dammit, how was I supposed to argue against this?

"Are… Are you...?" Atsushi asked hesitantly. Looking at his hopeful eyes, I let out a sigh, "No, I'm nothing like you."

"Oh." He replied, curling into himself. I grimaced at his disappointed look and the subtle judgemental expressions from the other people at my harsh answer. I ran a hand through my hair, "Look, I'm not like you in the way that I can't turn into a tiger. My… ability is not offensive at all, really."

"So you _are_ supernatural." Kunikida said. I shot him a dirty look before turning back towards my brother who was surrounding himself in his figurative cloud of low self-esteem. Sighing, I reached out and lightly smacked his head like I always do whenever he starts a pity party, "Stop that. You're my brother, I'm not going to shun you like those fuckers in the shithole we call an orphanage. Besides, I knew about that overgrown cat from before you were even potty trained."

Atsushi, along with everyone else, blinked at my use of profanity, "You're angry."

"No I'm not." I denied. Atsushi smiled, "You only curse when you're angry."

"Shut up, Atsushi." I grumbled.

"Neh, neh. What's your ability?" Miyazawa popped in.

Briefly, I considered hurting myself to show them, but decided against it. Atsushi didn't need any more stress. Instead, I shrugged, "I can heal myself at an exponential rate. I call it _Light, Wind, and Dreams._ "

Why that name? Well, when I die, the first thing I see other than the dark Void is the white light. Then my soul is figuratively swept away and deposited in my body. When I come back to life, I'm delirious for the first few seconds and it's like I'm floating in a dream. Don't you judge me and my naming sense. You do you, and I do me, remember? Besides, it sounds nice.

"Well that settles it!" Dazai says with a grin, "You two will become one of us."

The both of us looked at the man in confusion, I being the more distrustful. He smiled, "From this day forth, you'll be members of the Armed Detective Agency."

There was a moment of silence as we shared a look before Atsushi shot him a deadpan look, "Hah?"

Observing the people around me, I let out an irritated sigh, "There's no denying it now. My life is a fucking anime in the making with all this impossible shit happening."


	5. Start Tutorial

**CHAPTER 5**

It was warm.

It was warm and soft.

It was warm and soft and felt like heaven.

It was as if I was bundled up in a blanket made of fluffy clouds, enveloped by the sun's encompassing warmth. I haven't felt this in a very long time.

It was an actual bed.

Ahh, the bedding was so soft and the blanket so fluffy.

No more ratty sheets used as a sorry excuse of a futon. No more holes letting the warmth seep away as I slept. No more orphanage, no more park benches… Ahh, this was the life.

I cuddled closer to my twin's sleeping form (sharing a futon had long since become a habit) and took in the long forgotten smell of tatami mats.

Dazai had somehow provided us a roof over our heads on such short notice. We were in his debt, really. Along with his colleagues too. Despite my mental age and the experience it provided, I hadn't planned ahead on anything after finding Atsushi. It was ill-planned on my part.

We were very lucky.

I felt Atsushi stir beside me. There was a moment of silence before he let out a groan, "What happened last night?"

"They found out about Taiga." I answered, causing Atsushi to flinch in surprise, most likely thinking I was still asleep. He blinked at me, "Who's Taiga?"

I stared at my brother and calmly said, "You know, the tiger."

"Tiger..?" The was a pause before he suddenly jerked into a sitting position, causing the cold air to invade the warm space within the blanket. I grumbled in annoyance as my brother frantically looked at his right hand where the paw used to be.

I pulled myself up and tiredly hugged him, though it was more of me slumping over him. My arms hung loosely on his shoulders and the both of us ignored my long hair spilling around us. I said softly into the silence, "Taiga would never hurt you. He's just… another side of you that you haven't gotten to know yet."

"But-" Atsushi began, most likely working himself up to another long spiel. I promptly smacked the side of his head lightly, "You don't know anything yet, so don't go judging before you do."

"Yeah… I guess you're right." Atsushi said as he looked around our apartment in a slight daze, "It's been a long time since we've had a roof over our heads."

I nodded in agreement. We both sat in a comfortable silence, listening to the birds chirp just outside our window. I smiled softly at the peaceful-

 _Riiinnnggg~ Riiinnnnggg~_

The both of us jumped in surprise at the sound of the ringtone. Atsushi scrambled to his knees, searching for the source of the sound, "What? What?!"

 _Riiiinnnnngg~ Riiinnnnngg~_

We zeroed in on the two flip phones laying on top a pile of folded clothes.

 _Riiinnngg~ Riiinnnng~_

Atsushi practically threw himself at the ringing phone, grabbing it in a panic, "O-Okay, I'm taking the call! I'll do it right now. Right this second!"

There was a pause as the phone continued ringing before he turned towards me with a tearful expression, "How do I take the call?"

I smiled fondly at him and took the phone from his hand. I may have come from a time where flip phones were _ancient_ , but I still knew how to use one. Neatly pressing the call button, I held up the phone to my ear and cheerfully answered in a sarcastic tone, "You have reached the Nakajima phone line, how may I help you?"

" _Good morning!"_ A familiar voice greeted in English. I stayed silent until a face matched with the voice, "Oh, it's Dazai."

I held the phone in between Atsushi and I, so that we could hear the man talk in his somehow annoyingly eccentric voice, " _Today's another fine day! How's the new dorm?_ "

Atsushi smile even though Dazai wouldn't see it, "Great, thank you. Compared to sleeping outdoors, it's heavenly."

The _futon_ _was_ heavenly.

" _Well that's good to hear_." Dazai said cheerfully, " _The change of clothes in front of the pillow are gifts from everyone at the agency_."

"Thank you so much for everything." Atsushi said gratefully. I hummed in agreement, "You didn't have to do this much for us."

Sure our clothes from the orphanage was far from perfect, but it was still clothes. We would have altered them a bit as to not look like… well, like orphans. There was no need for the people to buy new clothes for us. Especially me. I've had the habit of ruining my clothes on many nights due to a certain tiger.

" _It's no problem._ " Dazai answered, " _By the way, I apologize for asking this out of the blue but… there's an emergency._ "

My brother and I shared a look, curious as to what the man was going to say. I swear to god, if Dazai is sending my brother off on some kind of dangerous mission on the get-go, I was going to have a few choice words with him.

"An emergency?" Atsushi prompted.

" _Yes, there can be no delay. Please come to the specified location immediately. It's a crisis!"_ Dazai cried dramatically, " _Only you guys can help_."

"O-Okay, we understand." Atsushi said with determination. We both nodded at each other and grabbed our clothes. I ran into the bathroom and quickly shed my sleepwear. I pulled on the white, long-sleeved blouse and a black skirt that stopped just above my knees. Sending a mental thanks to whoever was thoughtful enough to include biker shorts with the skirt, I snapped on the suspenders.

I left the bathroom to see that Atsushi sported the male version of my outfit. There were a few differences like the long tail-like belt attached to his suspenders, but we generally matched perfectly like stereotypical twins.

Reaching into my backpack, I pulled out a black ribbon I got from Atsushi on my birthday. I skillfully tied my white-blonde hair up into a high ponytail, leaving my asymmetrical-looking bangs to fall to the side of my face like Atsushi's. I struck a pose and asked, "How do I look?"

"Nice as always." Atsushi laughed, pulling on his shoes, "Come on, we have to hurry."

He was already out the door by the time I finished putting on my own shoes. With a sigh, I closed the door and ran to the railings of the second floor. My brother was already halfway down the stairs, so I opted to take a shortcut and vaulted over the railing.

Freefalling for a second, I twisted my body and landed in a crouch with a slight wince. I ignored the barely audible crack of my ankle and stood up, not moving until I was sure my ankle was healed.

Turns out I didn't have to move because the "crisis" was right in front of me, stuck in a metal barrel. Atsushi pulled to a stop right next to me, his face shown in disbelief and exasperation.

Dazai was smiling cheerfully at us as if he wasn't stuck in a metal barrel of all things. His feet were up in the air while anything below his chest was hidden within the barrel. My wince grew.

That _cannot_ be comfortable.

 _ **This method is actually used as a form of slow torture.**_

What?! I mentally screamed at Mira in shock, body frozen in place. WHAT?!

"Umm…" Atsushi didn't know what to say in a situation like this. His shoulders were slouched as he stared at Dazai blankly, "What's this about?"

"What do you think?" Dazai asked casually. Atsushi reached up to scratch the back of his head, "Maybe I'm hallucinating this morning?"

"Wrong!" Dazai said happily. I immediately smacked the back of my brother's head, "You idiot! Is that all you have to say for this situation?! I didn't raise you to be like this!"

Atsushi yelped and took a step away from me, "B-But…"

"Being stuck in that metal barrel thing in that position could kill him! If he slides down far enough, his knees will touch his chest and his body would snap in two under the strain!" I yelled, hyperventilating at the thought, "Let's not forget to mention it's used as a torture method that slowly kills the person! Dazai, who put you in there?!"

The stupid man had the gall to chuckle lightly, "I put myself in here."

I jerked to a stop and felt my jaw drop, "What."

"I heard there was a way to commit suicide by getting stuck in an oil drum, so I decided to give it a shot." Dazai explained as he slowly slid down further, his facial expression starting to become strained. "But now that I've tried it, I'm just suffering without being able to actually die. Not to mention now that I've wedged myself this deep, I can't seem to get out. I think I might die."

"Huh…" Atsushi said unimpressed, "But it's a way to commit suicide, so you should be able to kill yourself if you stay that way, I think?"

"Atsushi!" I yelled in anger before landing a kick on his hip. He went flying to the ground with a pained yelp. "How dare you suggest Dazai to kill-"

"I may like suicide, but I _don't_ like pain or suffering." Dazai retorted before I could finish my sentence, "Why would I?!"

I stared at him in disbelief, "You _like_ s-suicide?"

Dazai went on as if I hadn't said anything, "Also, I only learned this after the fact that it wasn't a suicide method, but a tor-"

Without thinking about it, I roughly kicked the metal barrel over, "What the hell, Dazai?!"

Ignoring his pained groan, I walked over and hooked my hands under his arms to start pulling him out, "What human likes killing themselves?! It's a stupid notion if you ask me. You haven't even experienced it and you're saying you _like_ it?! _Don't fuck with me._ Let me tell you something, Dazai. Dying _hurts_. It hurts like a fucking bitch."

With a grunt, I yanked one last time and managed to pull him out only to end up falling from the sudden shift in weight. I landed on my ass, panting from exertion, but quickly stood up to glare down at the idiot, "There is no way to kill yourself without feeling pain. If you don't like pain and suffering, well then you're just going to have to give up on that crap! There's no such thing as a painless death."

I grabbed Dazai's hand and pulled him up to his feet. After inspecting him for a second, I decided there was no permanent damage done to him. Letting go, I turned around and walked towards the stairs, "I don't want to go out today. Do whatever without me."

I didn't wait for answer as I went back into our room. Closing the door behind me with a sigh, I bent down to unlace my shoes.

 _Creeeeaaaaaakkkk-_

I yelped at the sharp pain that ran down my back and collapsed onto the ground. I let out a groan, "What the hell?"

 ** _It's a side effect._**

"What?" I asked in confusion. I didn't hurt my back, only my ankle and the pain from that disappeared halfway into my rant. "Did I hurt my back when I fell? A side effect from what?"

 ** _From healing Dazai._**

"Healing Dazai?" I paused, "Wait, I can heal other people?!"

 ** _Yes_**.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!" I asked incredulously.

 _ **Unnecessary.**_

I let out a defeated sigh, "Is there any _other_ ability I should be aware of?"

 ** _No_**.

I removed my shoes and stood back up, aware of the pain that was slowly receding. Walking into the kitchen, I started to make myself a cup of tea, "Can you explain why I feel the pain?"

 ** _It is a side effect as I said before. You will be able to heal anything, but there is a price. Any pain caused by those wounds will be transferred to you while the wounds themselves won't. Depending on the gravity of the wound, you will be left defenseless._**

I hummed in thought, mentally noting that this was the longest I had ever heard Mira talk, "While it sucks that I'll have to deal with the pain, this power could be really useful… How do I use it?"

 ** _You don't, I do._**

"That's nice." I commented distractedly as I poured myself a cup of tea. I stared out of my window from my perch on the countertop. Hmm… what a nice view.

 ** _They left._**

"I see." I said, taking a long sip from my tea.

 ** _Follow them_.**

"Why should I?" I asked, "Seeing Dazai's face will only sour my mood."

 ** _Atsushi?_**

I frowned, "... Dazai can protect the both of them."

 ** _The suicidal man_?**

I bit my lip as I rubbed the rim of my cup, "He wouldn't leave my brother behind."

 ** _Really_?**

I fidgeted in place as scenario after scenario played through my mind. Each one was increasingly gorier than the last. After a few minutes of the mental torture, I let out a yell and slammed the cup onto the counter, "FINE."

I grumbled as I slipped on my shoes and exited the room. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing."

 ** _What_.**

"You have the strange need to be near Taiga." I said as I took off running, "And the only way you can stay near them is by convincing me to go."

 ** _Coincidence_.**

"Whatever." I muttered under my breath, "Tell me where to go."

 ** _Close one eye._**

"Are you sure?" I hesitated, "Is that how things work?"

 ** _Do it._**

With a shrug, I closed my left eye. At first, nothing happened, but a second later I had to hold in a gasp. There was a trail of blue glowing kanji leading into complete darkness, but when I opened my eye, it showed a road towards the city. It was a bit disorienting to say the least.

"Is that it?"

 ** _Follow it._**

"Alright." I breathed before taking off again. Running with only one eye open was really challenging, but I somehow managed. Within minutes, I found myself in front of a four story building.

The trail of words lead inside.

With a bit of apprehension due to being at an unfamiliar location, I entered the building. I made myself scarce as I followed the trail up four flights of stairs. Almost tripping over yet another stair due to being half blinded, I let out a curse, "Why did he use the stairs when there's an elevator?"

It took me another minute to finally reach the room my brother was in and I was not amused with what I saw.

The first thing I noticed was that Dazai and Atsushi were huddling behind some plants. The second was that Kunikida was standing with his hands up in front of an unstable looking ginger dude. That and a girl was gagged below the guy. Oh, and the bomb.

Are you fucking kidding me?

"I bet you're trying to make me let my guard down and use that annoying ability of yours. Well, fat chance!" The guy yelled, pointing with a small device I assumed to be the trigger to the bomb right next to him. "Get up on the desk on all fours and keep both hands where I can see them!"

"Ah?!" Kunikida glared. The ginger flinched but kept going, "I-If you don't do as I say, I'm taking you all down with me!"

What the actual fuck?

I was broken out of my thoughts when my very own wimpy brother walked up to the bomber after Kunikida got on the desk.

"S-S-Stop!" Oh my god, he sounded so pathetic. Atsushi, I love you, but really? What are you doing? Wait… My heart dropped as the weight of the situation hit me... ATSUSHI WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

Atsushi shakily shuffled closer to the bomber, "W-Wh-What could you possibly accomplish? I… I bet this would make your parents mad."

"Who the hell are you?!" The bomber growled out threateningly. Atsushi promptly fell on his ass, "S-S-S-Sorry!"

This… _This_ is my brother. What did I do wrong in raising him? Oh right, I was focused more on Taiga than him in our younger years. Damn, it's my fault then.

I let out a sigh and started looking around the office for something I could use to defuse the situation… That pun was not intentional. Gah, focus! Mentally slapping myself, I rooted around the boxes that were near me. Hmm… what could I use? I'm terrible at throwing things, so using scissors as impromptu throwing knives was not an option. Books wouldn't help either… Ahah!

I pulled out what looked like a meter stick. Short and easy to break, but doable.

"T… T-Tea on rice!" I almost face planted when my brother attempted to dissuade the bomber by giving him a reason to live, "You can eat a _lot_ of tea on rice!"

Man, if tea on rice is the reason why my brother wants to live, we seriously need to talk.

"You can sleep with a roof over your head! When you go to sleep at night, you can wake up to a new day! And everyday is a new day!" My brother cried out desperately before slouching down in terror, "But… If you blow up, neither you nor I will see another new day… because… because we'll be _dead_."

While everyone was so focused on my brother's dramatics, I took the chance to dash over to the desks near the bomber without anyone's notice. Crouching down low, I slowly got closer inch by inch. Taking a breath, I took a risk and peeked over the table… and almost died of embarrassment.

Atsushi was doing the wiggly movement he always does when he wants to run from reality but can't. Even the bomber looked weirded out by my brother's dorky version of a drunken gait. Atsushi wailed out from underneath his hand, "I think you should reconsider. I mean, if you die… _you're really dead_. I'm sure you might wish you were dead sometimes, but there are people who keep on living even when the going's tough!"

He perked up, "Oh, people like me! I have no friends, I was even kicked out of an orphanage. Even my own twin sister thinks I'm pathetic."

I froze in shock at his words. Was that what he really thought?

"I have nowhere to go and no hope for the future…" My brother's tone became even more depressing after each word, but it soon switched to irritation, "Yeah, that's right! It's true, like you say, I lack redeeming qualities, and everyone'd agree that I'm the scum of society. _But I still manage to keep on living without going postal about it!_ "

"DAMN STRAIGHT!" I cried, jumping from my hiding place and using the stick to ruthlessly snap at the bomber's wrist. The guy yelped in pain and I took that moment of weakness to snatch the remote from his hand. Without any remorse, I kicked him in the solar plexus. _Hard_.

Ignoring the sound of his body falling over the desk, I turned to my brother with a scowl, " _You_."

"M-Me?" He squeaked. I roughly grabbed his collar and pulled him towards me until we were face to face, "Let's get this straight."

"Ki-Kira… chan?" Atsushi said hesitantly. I glared at him, "Yes, I do think you're pathetic."

He flinched under me, his yellow-purple eyes shining hurt and betrayal. I studied his face before letting out a sigh and releasing my grip. Atsushi lowered his head and stumbled back. I didn't miss a beat and reached out to push his chin up until we had eye contact once more.

I frowned, but it softened into a smile, "I call you pathetic because I know that you can do so much better, but choose not to. I know that you have so much potential and you're letting it all go to waste. I call you pathetic because you have the gall to think that I believe you're the scum of society. That I don't think highly of you. We're twins, Tsu-kun. It's us against the world, remember?"

What would've been the most touching scene I had ever participated in was promptly ruined when the bomber took advantage of the lapse of attention and grabbed the remote out of my hand.

The room was filled with stunned silence.

"You mother fucker!" My eyebrow twitched as I rounded on him, "You ruined the goddamn moment!"

"I swear, anyone gifted with supernatural powers has something wrong with them inside…" The bomber chuckled crazily, his eyes impossibly wide and his smile creepily skewed.

"Well guess what, you insolent baboon! Everyone is crazy, some just hide it better than others!" I shouted, lunging at him with a fist pulled back. I took a swing, but it was too late, he pressed the button.

"Thirty seconds left until detonation!" Atsushi cried in horror as the bomb activated.

"You brat!" Kunikida roared, running towards the bomb only to be tackled over by the bomber.

"Kunikida-san!" My twin called in concern. I clicked my tongue ran over to the wrestling duo. Any attack I throw at the bomber could potentially hit Kunikida and trying to separate them would most likely drag me into it. There was only one option.

"I never had that chance to try it on a person, but here goes nothing." Ignoring the bomber's startled ' _what?!_ ', I latched onto his shoulder and chopped the back of his neck with my hand. Judging from the way he slumped over Kunikida, I can assume that I hit the right pressure point.

Probably.

Maybe.

Mentally patting my back for a job well done, I turned around and promptly felt my legs turn into jello.

Atsushi was laying on the floor with his rear sticking up in the air. The bomb was underneath his body, ready to detonate in five seconds. He was covering it with his body.

 _ **He was sacrificing himself.**_

"FUCKING SUICIDAL IDIOTS!" I yelled in frustration, sprinting towards my brother, "Mira!"

 ** _You'll go into a coma if I heal him._**

"As long as he lives." I managed to gasp out as I fell down to my knees, wrapping my hand around his unclothed arm. My hand immediately exploded in a white light, black strings of kanji wrapping around the two of us. I gritted my teeth at the draining feeling and tensed in preparation for the pain that was to come.

 _5…_

 _4…_

 _3…_

 _2…_

 _1…_

…

…

Nothing happened.

I blinked in confusion as the manifestation of my ability faded away into nothing, "... What…"

 ** _… A setup_.**

"What." I said again.

"Jeez." Came Kunikida's voice, "I figured he'd be stupid, but not this stupid. That the girl joined him is also disappointing. Self healing does not mean invincibility. Although… it seems she has some control over her ability, unlike the brat."

Dazai stood next to him with a proud grin on his face, "They have the talent to become suicidal maniacs, hm? Wouldn't you agree, Tanizaki-kun?"

"Uuughh… Man, the girl sure has a swing. Good thing it didn't do what it was supposed to… I guess." The ginger pulled himself up from the ground, rubbing the back of his neck with a grimace while shooting me an indignant glower. Standing up, he peered down at us with a suddenly apologetic look, "Sorry about that... Are you okay?"

"Eh?" Atsushi looked at the three in disbelief. Anger began to settle in at the thought of being deceived, but it was promptly thrown out as I stared at Tanizaki in horror, "Oh my god, I kicked you!"

"Onii-chan!" The previously gagged girl called out, throwing herself at Tanizaki adoringly, "Are you alright?!"

After reassuring myself that my brother was alright, I stumbled over to the pair. Holding out my hand, I smiled sheepishly, "I'm really sorry about that, if I had known…"

Tanizaki eyed my hand for a second before taking it with a smile, "It's no problem, really."

Without any prompting, Mira went ahead and healed Tanizaki, though there were no flashy lights like last time.

"Eh?" Tanizaki said in confusion, cradling his abdomen, "It doesn't hurt…"

I smiled (I've been doing that a lot lately) back with a nod and walked back to my brother who was still staring in confusion and shock. I did my best to ignore the girl as she went on to talk about _bondage_ with Tanizaki. That was something I _never_ wanted to know about the two. I had to resist the urge to shield Atsushi's virgin ears and eyes.

It was then that I felt the equivalent of a battering ram slamming into my gut at full speed. I had no chance to cover up the immediate pain that flashed over my face because _holy shit that hurt_!

Atsushi, the only one who was paying enough attention to notice my expression was quick to come to my side. He shot me a worried glance and whispered, "Are you alright, Kira-chan?"

I smiled reassuringly at him, burying the pain as deep as I could manage, "I'm okay, just a small cramp."

The higher pitched tone and slight wheeze in my voice did not make it convincing. It was obvious to the both of us that I was not okay, but it was fine. The pain was starting to disappear anyways. God, I feel bad for anyone I've ever kicked. "Don't worry Tsu-kun, it doesn't hurt anymore."

He took my hand into his own and squeezed it gently in support, knowing from experience that I wouldn't talk about it if I didn't want to. I squeezed back in silent thanks as we both turned to the group of people we barely knew. It was as if there was an invisible wall separating them from us, a barrier that kept them away.

I preferred it that way.

They were watching us intently, so I subtly angled my body to be slightly in front of my brother. He never liked attention, especially the bad ones. As if by habit, my hand rose to reach for a staff that was not there. Realizing that I was grabbing at air, I frowned and clenched it into a fist at my side.

Atsushi matched my expression beside me, "Was this all… a hoax?"

"Brat, you should blame Dazai." Kunikida sighed and tucked his journal away, "Barring that, you only have yourself to blame for choosing Dazai of all people to help you find a job!"

"What do you mean by job?" I asked in confusion. Atsushi smiled sheepishly at me, "I asked Dazai for help in finding a job to support us. But it turns out the job is…"

Dazai grinned happily, "I told you there was a test involved."

We both turned our accusing glares towards the man in question in complete synchronization. Undeterred by our expressions, Dazai shrugged with his infuriating smile. I sighed, tightening my grip on Atsushi's hand, "You were inducting my brother into your organization."

"That's right." A deep, unfamiliar voice answered. My head turned sharply towards its direction, scrutinizing the yukata clad man. He stood in the middle of the hallway with two lines of female employees standing against the walls. The one closest to him spoke, "The exam has been completed without much ado, president."

"I see." The man answered, walking out from the shadow of the hallway, revealing cold silver eyes and hair that matched. His face was wrought with stress lines and maintained a stern expression, but he still managed to look young. This time, it was Atsushi who was tightly squeezing my hand.

The assumed president observed us, "Since Dazai said there was a capable set of twins, I had him test your mettle."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Weeelll, I recommended you guys for hire." Dazai piped in, eyeing my brother, "But since _you_ have been designated as a major threat by the ward, there was a disagreement among us as to whether we should take you in."

"Taiga won't hurt other humans unless provoked." I repeated for the hundredth time in irritation. Dazai looked curiously at me, "By the way… you've mentioned 'Taiga' multiple times now. Why do you call him that?"

I pressed my lips and turned my head to the side, not gracing him an answer. I may have secretly-totally-not adopted him, but I was currently mad at his suicidal tendencies. Until I forgave him, I was not going to play nice… well, I wasn't going to be _mean_ , but… ugh, whatever.

Kunikida sighed at my silence and turned towards the president, "So, president… what's your decision?"

There was a pause before the man turned and started walking away, "I'll let Dazai decide."

"You can trust me." Dazai answered back confidently, a smug look in his eyes.

"Bu… But…" Atsushi stuttered, unable to comprehend what was happening. Dazai smiled at us, "You guys passed the test. I was a bit worried when Akira-chan decided not to come along, but it all worked out in the end! Welcome to the Armed Detective Agency~"

"Congratulations!" The girl attached to Tanizaki cheered. Tanizaki laughed slowly, "I'm glad I was able to help."

"I don't remember asking for a job…" I muttered under my breath. Atsushi huddled behind me, peeking from the side of my head, "I can't possibly join a workplace as violent and reckless as this!"

"Not just anyone would use their body to shield a bomb to save everybody." Dazai said softly.

"That's right. I was really impressed!" The girl chirped. I scowled, "He shouldn't have been put in that position in the first place."

Dazai continued on, completely ignoring my comment, "You'll be fine."

"But…" Atsushi said sulkily. Dazai peered down at my heavily scowling form, "If you refuse, you won't be able to use the company dorm anymore."

My arm twitched. _That meant no more.. No more… FUTON!_

Dazai casually turned towards my brother, "Plus, you have no connections with anyone here. Finding a job would be extremely challenging. Not to mention you're a wanted tiger. If you get caught, you'll probably be shot dead."

Atsushi flinched at the information while I hissed angrily. There was no way in hell I'll let my brother die via gun this time around. They'll have to do it over my cold, dead body. Considering I can't die at the moment… well, it just wasn't going to happen.

"Now, if you were with this agency…" Dazai kept going, a smug smile on his face, "It'd be a different story."

As much as I wanted to reject him without hesitation, I withheld my tongue. I was temperamental, but not _stupid_. This was the best option for the both of us even though I hated to admit it. We were _orphans_. In the streets, pity wouldn't take us that far and getting a job was next to impossible with our status despite Atsushi's optimism. Not to mention Atsushi's lack of control in his ability. In reality, this opportunity was a godsend.

It was an offer we literally couldn't refuse.

I knew that and the agency did too. We had no choice.

The girl smiled happily, already knowing our answer, "We look forward to working with you, Atsushi-san, Akira-san."

"Just follow the rules, brats." Kunikida said, sitting primly on a chair with his journal in hand. Dazai grinned, "Well, now that's been settled…"

"You've got to be kidding me." Atsushi whined sulkily, his hand tightly gripping mine in silent, nervous terror.

I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, burying all my negative emotions deep within me with practiced ease. I couldn't afford to become too unstable. Not here.

 ** _You already are._**

I disregarded Mira's words and put on a genteel smile, bowing at my waist, "We look forward to working with you."

I straightened with my smile still in place, paying no mind to the brief pause caused by my sudden change in demeanor. On the inside, however, some part of me shriveled up in hurt.

Atsushi had flinched at my tone of voice, staring warily at me with sad eyes as he let go of my hand. He knew that tone, that smile. It was the facade I had took up in the orphanage whenever our caretakers were within our vicinity. It was the mask I had created after that one time I blacked out in a rage. No one ever told me what I did back then, but Atsushi clearly remembered, as did the other orphans.

It was the day a fourth of the orphanage's employees quit for reasons unknown to me. After that, practically everyone was wary of me and gave me a wide berth. To combat the sudden wariness, I made sure to be on my best behavior, going as far as to act like the perfect child. It took a long time, but eventually everyone began to relax around me once more. The unspoken incident was seemingly forgotten.

However, I soon learned that Atsushi absolutely loathed and feared my act. He hated it, said that I wasn't _me,_ that it was a stranger he saw. I agreed with him. After all, this persona was designed after… well, that particular information was of no importance.

The years helped ease off the fear and hatred, but it still hurt to see my brother look at me without complete trust whenever I was like this.

I could feel the bitterness and pain bubbling up, but it was quickly washed away when I felt a firm squeeze on my hand. I blinked in shock, having thought he would distance himself from me for a time to get used to it once more. Turning my head, I was surprised to see my twin sending me a reassuring look, the previous distrust completely gone. He was still wary, but it was a far cry from the behavior he adopted in the beginning.

He turned towards the others and imitated my bow with a shaky smile, "Please treat us kindly."

My smile slowly grew a bit more genuine. There was always this unspoken distance between us despite how close we were and I didn't know how to fix it. He liked to pretend certain aspects of my personality wasn't there and that there was nothing wrong with me. There was no doubt that he loved me as a sister, but that never changed his flighty behavior around me. He was close, yet distant but now…

Now…

 _He was finally giving me a chance._


	6. Starter Quest: Survive

**CHAPTER 6**

"I… I… I'm so sorry!" Tanizaki cried out dramatically as his head bent over the table we were currently sitting at. Atsushi could only smile awkwardly at him, clueless on how to handle the situation.

I silently sat next to my twin with the genteel smile still painted on my face. Taking advantage of the fact that he was only slightly wary of me when I'm like this, I latched onto Atsushi's hand and sat shoulder to shoulder beside him. I was still basking in the fact that he wasn't avoiding close contact with me like he usually did back at the orphanage when I adopted this persona.

The group had moved from the 'headquarters' of the Armed Detective Agency to a quaint little cafe just on the floor below. Kunikida and Dazai had made themselves comfortable at the counter while Tanizaki and the touchy-feely girl sat at a booth with us sitting across from them.

Conversation was relatively awkward and seemed to stay that way until Tanizaki suddenly slammed down his hands and bowed his head over the table with an apology on his lips.

"Though it was for your exam, I was so rude to you and for that I am sorry." He said, slowly moving back into a normal sitting position, "My name is Tanizaki Junichirou. I work as an assistant of sorts at the agency."

My brother jerkily waved his hand with a weak chuckle, "Please, it's alright."

I nodded along, "If anything, it should be me apologizing to you. You're the one who ended up getting hurt during all of this."

"It's fine." Tanizaki shook his head with a smile of relief before turning to the smiling girl at his side, "Ah, this is-"

The admittedly gorgeous girl took that as a cue to launch herself at Tanizaki for a hug, "His little sister, Naomi."

"Y-You're siblings?!" Atsushi stared dubiously at the pair, "... I'm not sure I see a family resemblance..."

"Oh? You doubt us? Of course we're related by blood." Naomi smiled slyly, slowly stroking her hand down her brother's face. I casually let go of Atsushi's hand in favor of covering his eyes as Naomi's hand wandered further down. Tanizaki seemed to mentally die as he froze under his sister's ministrations.

"We're quite similar. Especially this part." She boldly slipped her hand under his shirt and started sensually stroking his stomach as she leaned closer to him, "Right, Onii-sama?"

"Eh? Kira-chan, why are you covering my eyes?" Atsushi asked in confusion. I smiled calmly, sorely tempted to somehow cover his ears too when the Tanizaki siblings starting making inappropriate sounds, "I'm preserving your innocence, dear brother. Take care to ignore anything you hear coming from their direction, alright?"

I had made sure Atsushi had a proper education on reproduction, but he only had the basic knowledge of what to do. He has never seen anything sexual in his life and I plan to keep it that way. No way was my little brother (by mental age) learning what incest is.

"Bu… But…"

"In any case, you guys have joined the ranks of our Armed Detective Agency." Kunikida left his perch at the counter table to walk over to us, effectively distracting us, "Do not be a burden to anyone _, nor shame the agency's good name_!"

His voice had raised into a yell by the end, making a point to say it in the Tanizakis' direction. He frowned at them before turning back to us, "The rest of us are committed to that, at least. Right, Dazai?"

I politely inclined my head, lowering my hand from Atsushi's face, "We will do our best not to."

The three of us turned to Dazai only to see him seductively stroking the hand of the waitress while crooning, "Would you strangle me with these fragile, delicate fingers?"

Kunikida twitched and marched back over to Dazai and delivered a merciless punch to his head, "Are you going to smear mud on the Agency's name right as I'm saying we never would?! You bastard!"

Atsushi let out an exasperated sigh as Kunikida started threatening his partner. We both shared a look at the chaos happening around us. Without anyone else paying attention to us, I let my smile drop into a more curious look as I observed the scene around us. Softly, I whispered nostalgically, "It's quite lively, isn't it?"

"Nothing like the orphanage." Atsushi said in almost childish wonder.

"Nothing like the orphanage." I agreed.

We sat in comfortable silence, content in watching everyone else, who seemed to forget about us. After a minute, Atsushi decided to speak up, "By the way, what were you guys doing before joining the Agency?"

"Hah?!" Kunikida yelled out distractedly as he attempted to strangle Dazai. My twin flinched before laughing nervously, "Uh, no real meaning behind that question, by the way…"

"Take a guess." Dazai answered airily from his position in Kunikida's hold. Atsushi stared at him in question, "Huh?"

"Oh, it's a game we play often." Dazai said, sitting backwards on the seat to face us, "The rookie tries to guess his senior colleagues' former occupations. Well, it's part of their training as private investigators."

Atsushi shot me a glance and I nodded in return. He'd be the one to do the guessing. My brother laid his blend of yellow and purple irises towards the Tanizaki siblings, "Tanizaki-san and Naomi-san are… students?"

Tanizaki blinked in amazement, "Oh, bingo. I'm impressed."

Naomi stared at him in curiosity, "How did you know?"

"I heard you were a part-time worker, and I thought you might still be a student given your uniform." Atsushi explained, slowly growing more confident the longer he spoke, "Tanizaki-san seems so close to me in age so… just a hunch."

"Honesty is a virtue." Dazai chimed in before asking in a possibly smug and teasing tone, "What about Kunikida?"

The blonde promptly spit out his drink and slammed the cup onto the table, "Who cares what I used to be?"

Atsushi furrowed his brows in thought, "A public worker… An official?"

"Close." Dazai drawled out happily, "He was a teacher. A math teacher."

"Huh…" Atsushi commented, staring intently at Kunikida. After a second, his face twitched, "I can totally see that…"

"It's all in the past! I don't even want to think about it." Kunikida grunted. I was tempted to ask what grade level he taught in. Personally, I thought middle schoolers were easier to teach, but I guess it depended on the teacher and the subject being taught. I withheld the question, knowing that asking would be weird since I was just an '18 year old who spent her entire life in an orphanage'.

Dazai looked at Atsushi, "What about me then?"

"You, Dazai-san?" He asked.

"Yep."

"Well… Dazai-san was… Dazai-san was…" Atsushi's face scrunched up adorably in concentration. Kunikida adjusted his glasses, "Don't bother, brat. His former profession is one of the seven mysteries of the Armed Detective Agency."

"The first person to get it receives a reward, right?" Tanizaki piped in.

My brother and I perked up at the mention of a reward. Was the reward money? If so, how much? Were we paid upfront if we were to get it right? Any source of money was happily accepted when it came to our current situation. We were completely broke.

"That's right." Dazai sighed as if it were some burden, "No one has been able to guess right, so the reward's just ballooned.

"B-By the way…" Atsushi began, anticipation obvious in his voice, "How much has the reward ballooned to, exactly?"

"700,000 yen total."

Atsushi made a strangled sound while my expression turned calculating. 700,000 yen. If I handled the expenses right with food and lodgings at the bare minimum including what we get for working with the Agency, we would be able to sustain ourselves for… a couple of years! That would give me enough time to secure a job and add a steady income into our account. Of course, handling the paperwork was going to be challenging, but I could make it work.

Atsushi's eyes lit on fire with determination as he jumped to his feet and started naming occupations in rapid fire.

"Atsushi-kun looks excited." Tanizaki said dryly with a deadpanned expression. Naomi mirrored his face and tone, "His determination is admirable."

The siblings stared at my brother in disbelief, sweatdropping as Tanizaki's brow twitched, "It's all random…"

"I bet you were just wandering around doing nothing." Kunikida said from his seat. Atsushi turned to look pleadingly at me and my mouth opened before I could even process what I was saying, "Undertaker."

Everyone stared at me.

When my words registered into my brain, I blushed and coughed into my hand, "Sorry. I was reminded of someone- Don't mind my answer."

I was incredibly thankful when Dazai continued on with the conversation. Going silent once more, I stared intensely into my cup of tea. Why an Undertaker? Even as I asked the question, I already knew the answer. It was because Dazai reminded me of- no. Happy thoughts.

Futons.

Stuffed with feathers.

 _Bliss…_

I picked up the cup and took a long sip, easily stuffing my inner turmoil into a locked chest I had no intention of addressing in the near future. Letting out a long exhale, I painted on a carefully crafted smile and closed my eyes.

The conversations flowed around me until Tanizaki's phone went off. I kept my eyes closed as I listened. It seemed there was a job and that the client was already at the office. Everyone stood up to leave.

I opened my eyes when I felt Atsushi grab my hand. He smiled at me, "Let's go."

I nodded, "Alright."

~.~.~.~

The client was a tall blonde woman with short hair and hazel eyes. She was dressed professionally and sat as straight as a rod, her posture unrelenting. I carefully eyes her from my place next to Kunikida.

Something wasn't right with her.

Not once did her expression change throughout the meeting. Not even when Dazai knelt before her, grabbed her hand, and proposed a double suicide. She didn't bat an eye when Kunikida dragged Dazai into a separate room where we could clearly hear the beating taking place. Yes, she reacted when Kunikida uppercutted Dazai across the room and when she described the situation for the case, but her _eyes_ didn't _change_.

They were blank, not necessarily cold, but detached from the situation. Just like Dazai's when he fought Taiga.. Just like-… she wasn't a normal civilian.

I stood to attention when Kunikida declared that Atsushi was to join the case about the smugglers. I firmly said, "I will go with him."

The blonde glanced at me before nodding in agreement, "Tanizaki, go with them."

"If he's going, I'm going too!" Naomi chirped, pulling Tanizaki into a painful looking hug.

With that, we dispersed. I silently followed Atsushi as he was directed to pack the camera equipment in the office. He let out a shaky breath, his eyes burning with anxiety. I was nervous too. This would be the first time I'm doing something like this.

"Oi, brats." Kunikida walked over to us with his journal in hand. We stared at him in curiosity.

"It's not that I lack sympathy for your unlucky, ill-begotten life." I silently bristled but immediately clamped down on my anger as he kept talking, "As such, I'll give you one hint for surviving in this city."

Kunikida pulled out a picture of a man in a black trench coat with short, dark hair, "Don't run into him. If you do, run."

Atsushi solemnly took the picture and studied it, "Who is he?"

"A mafioso." Dazai answered. My hand reflexively latched onto Atsushi's wrist as I gritted my teeth at the mention of that word, " _Mafia…_ "

Dazai watched me as he leaned on a desk, "Though we call them that because we don't know anything else."

"They're a vicious criminal organization who claims the port as their territory." Kunikida added, "They're called the Port Mafia. They're the most dangerous bunch in the underground world of this city. The person in the photo is a dangerous man that even the Agency cannot reach."

"Why is he dangerous?" Atsushi asked in apprehension.

"Because he's gifted." He answered, "His ability happens to be of the ruthless sort, specializing in slaughter. Not even the military police stand a chance against him."

Akutagawa.

That was his name. A damned mafioso. A worthless piece of scum tha-

"Kira-chan, you're hurting me." Atsushi suddenly whispered in a strained voice. I flinched when I realized I had his wrist in a vice grip and promptly let go. He sent me a worried look, but I shook my head and put on a smile.

He knew not to push further.

The day seemed to blur as I followed after the group with the blonde, who's name I didn't bother remembering, leading at the front. I did my best to follow the conversation between Atsushi and Tanizaki as we walked through the city, but it just wasn't happening.

Memories from a time long gone were threatening to resurface and I was doing all I could not to become emotionally unstable (there was already too much pent up anger). That always ended in blackouts and the results of said instances were never morally good. I hated it when I regained consciousness only to remember nothing from minutes prior. It left me feeling incomplete.

"We're here." The blonde said, snapping me out of my thoughts. She was standing in the middle of an alleyway, gesturing towards the left of us were another alleyway made itself known. I quietly followed them into the darker alley.

"It's kinda creepy." My brother muttered. I paused in my steps and looked ahead of us.

It was a dead end.

"That's strange. Is this really the right place?" Tanizaki asked in wonder, but his voice had a strange lilt to it, "Umm…"

"It's Higuchi." The blonde answered. I took a second to note the name before disregarding it completely. I took a few steps closer to the woman who was standing at the mouth of the alley we were in.

We were at a dead end and an unknown was at the opening. We were effectively trapped, assuming we couldn't overpower her. I learned from the first time around to automatically assume she was armed in some way, so I didn't go within her reach.

I didn't bother to listen to the conversation going on between her and Tanizaki. The moment she greeted someone on her phone by the name of Akutagawa, I knew the bitch was from the Mafia. By the time her hands moved to pull out guns, I was already in position, my hands held firmly over my ears. I heard my brother scream something, but it was drowned out the moment she pulled the trigger.

Bang after bang, the muffled sound of metal casings was all I could hear as they hit the ground one after another. My body jerked every time a bullet pierced my skin, but I didn't scream. I couldn't feel them, even as one went straight through my heart. I was numbed.

By the time the blonde bitch stopped, we were left in a ringing silence.

"A… Ak-A… Aki-ra…" My brother's breath hitched in horror as I spat out a glob of blood. I chuckled weakly as my white blouse became completely soaked in red, the blood pouring onto the ground in an endless flow. Could I be healed with this many bullet wounds?

"D-on… Don..t… w-wor...ry…" I managed to say to my brother before I tipped over, dead before I even hit the ground.

"AKIRAAA!"

Not a second later, I was back in the Void. I jerked upwards with a loud gasp as I tried to stop my heart from beating out of my chest. My hand clutched the fabric over my heart, shaking as I willed myself to calm down. I let out a shaky chuckle, "I didn't black out… I didn't black out…"

My body slumped onto the ground as the statement repeated over and over in my mind. I didn't black out before I died. Thank god.

Letting out a sigh, I gave a mental thanks to Mira for having the foresight to preemptively numb my pain receptors. I can't imagine the pain I would've had to experience had she not done so. I'm immensely grateful that Mira even had the ability to do so.

Cracking my neck, I took off into a run and crashed into a blinding white light within seconds.

I soon found myself back in my body, disoriented, but completely healed. My clothes were plastered to my skin and I inwardly mourned for the loss of such a nice outfit. It was comfy too…

My body gave the slightest twitch when a pained gasp came from beside me. I opened my eyes in the tiniest slits to see who it was without betraying my current living status. It was Naomi and judging from the red patch she was currently stemming at her side, she got shot. The wound wouldn't be fatal so long as she got medical attention soon.

Or me. That works too.

I didn't even have to devise some intricate plan to initiate skin contact without letting the blonde bitch know I'm alive. Naomi was clutching my hand desperately and I was oddly touched that she cared enough to cry for my 'death'. Almost subconsciously, I gave a reassuring squeeze just as Mira started the healing process on Naomi.

 _ **I'll keep your nociceptor numbed until the end of the battle. I must warn you though, the strain from all of this will cause you to faint once it starts working again. Be prepared for that.**_

"A-Akira-chan?!" Naomi squeaked, too shocked at my revival to notice the sudden lack of pain in her side and the fact that the bullet wound had completely disappeared. I thanked my lucky stars the loud guns prevented the blonde bitch (and the boys) from hearing Naomi's exclamation.

It's only been a couple of seconds since I died, I didn't really miss anything. But my brother's mental state had been compromised and I needed to fix that. I found that chance when Tanizaki revealed his ability, illusions. He would cover for me.

I immediately sat up, ignoring Naomi's strangled yelp. I silently dragged her farther from the battle and tucked her into the corner of the dead end. I shot her a stern look, "Stay here."

Without another word, I ran to my brother.

"Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead." Atsushi seemed to repeat the mantra with wide, unseeing eyes, "Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead-"

"Tsu-kun." I said softly, putting my hand against his cheek. He didn't react. "Tsu-kun, please."

"- Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead-"

My throat constricted at the sight of my broken brother. I pulled him into a tight and desperate hug, whimpering out, "I'm here. I'm right here, Tsu-kun. Please, come back to me. I'm here. Alive."

"... Not… dead…?" He croaked out, his hands gripping my clothes like a lifeline. I tightened my hold, "I'm alive, see?"

Atsushi hesitantly pulled away from the hug to look at me. His eyes intensely searched my own before he let out a relieved sob, pulling me back into an embrace, "D-Don't you ever do th-that again! I thought I l-lost you…"

"I'm sorry." I whispered, stroking his back.

We both jerked back in shock when Tanizaki's body suddenly went flying. I quickly jumped to my feet and stood in front of my twin protectively. I hissed at the newcomer, "... _Akutagawa_."

"Fear death. Fear slaughter." He intoned, his face devoid of any emotion as the black and red lightning-like tendrils that attacked Tanizaki returned to him, "Those who desire death have an equal desire to die. Therefore… "

I gritted my teeth and tensed as he got closer. Atsushi trembled behind me, terrified out of his mind.

"It's nice to meet you." He said, "My name is Akutagawa, one of the Port Mafia's dogs, as is she."

The blonde bitch took one look at me and gaped, "Impossible! You-You died!"

I sneered, "As if a pathetically imbellic, trigger-happy _bitch_ like you could ever kill _me_."

Any curses I planned to throw at her immediately died on my lips when Akutagawa reached out and backhanded the blonde, "I believe my orders were to take the weretiger alive! And yet here you are _gunning everyone down_. You useless cur! Stand down."

"I'm sorry." It was the first time I saw an emotion flash through her eyes and it was filled with shame.

Atsushi grabbed my hand and I squeezed it in support. He moved to stand beside me, his face set in a look of determination, "T-Take the weretiger alive? What are you after?"

"My target has always been you and you alone, weretiger." Akutagawa answered, ignoring my existence, "Your fellow agents lying there were caught in the crossfire."

Atsushi flinched, "This is because of me?"

"Indeed. This is your karma, weretiger. You will cause ill for everyone around you, just by being alive."

"Utter bullshit." I squeezed Atsushi's hand tighter and practically growled out, "I refuse to let you Mafia scum take another brother from me. If you want him, you'll have to get through my cold _, dead_ body."

" _Rashoumon."_

I didn't even have a chance to react before my body was flung across the air with a gaping hole through my stomach. I slammed into the hard concrete floor, leaving an indent as I skidded to a stop. "Gahk!"

"AKIRA!" Atsushi screamed, trying to run over to me but was stopped by Akutagawa.

I let out a hiss as I pulled myself up, "M-Mir...a…"

With a groan, I succumbed to the darkness, but hightailed out of there and into the light within the same second. With a huff, I pushed myself up again and stood back up.

Akutagawa was still focused on my twin, "I intend to take you alive, but if you insist-"

I stared in horror when Atsushi took a running start at Akutagawa. I was about to run and stop Atsushi but quickly froze when he suddenly turned into Taiga mid leap in a burst of light before diving at the man with a roar.

I could only stare in shock at the battle before me. Since when could Atsushi control the transformations? How? I thought Taiga could only come out under the moonlight! Did… Did seeing me die multiple times somehow trigger the transformation?

I shook my head. Either way, I would only get in the way if I tried to help him. Instead, I ran over to Tanizaki's fallen form and started dragging him towards the wall. Naomi quickly ran over to help and we managed to prop him up where Naomi was previously. Breathing heavily, I held his head up with my hands, "Mira!"

 _ **Akira, you may not feel the strain right now, but you've already overused the ability.**_

"Light to thy path. Wind to thy wings. Dreams to thy heart." I recited from somewhere with a tired chuckle, "I like to think it means to let me do what I want."

 _ **Very well.**_

Naomi looked at me weirdly, but I ignored her like I did the destruction happening behind me.

 _ **Your body will be put into temporary paralysis, but you'll stay conscious.**_

I focused on the tingling feeling that ran through my arms. With a deep breath, I halfheartedly mumbled the name I gave the ability, feeling slightly embarrassed by it, "Light, Wind, and Dreams."

Unlike the flashy lights from last time, this demonstration was much more tamed. At first, nothing seemed to change, so I removed my hand from his face.

Then I noticed the kanji of _Light, Wind, and Dreams_ imprinted on his cheek like some tattoo. What was fascinating was that the words seemed to be made up of thousands of _smaller_ kanji scrambled together.

"Huh…" I breathed in wonder. As if my voice was the signal, the tiny kanji quickly dispersed to various parts of Tanizaki's body, clustering around his wounds. I couldn't help, but oogle as the kanji pulsed a subtle black wave before sinking into his skin and disappearing. Seconds later, his open wounds seemed to mend together and his bruises melted away. The only hint to his previously injured state was the bloodstains.

Was it always like that?

 _ **Yes. It's just that you usually don't remove your hand until after they sink in, so you didn't notice until now. It's also because, so far, the wounds were hidden by clothes.**_

Naomi immediately checked Tanizaki over before sighing in relief. She smiled tearfully at me as she cradled her still unconscious brother, "Thank you."

"No prooobbbllegh…" My words suddenly slurred together as I fell back with a thump.

Ah, right. Paralysis. Damn.

I was kind of expecting Naomi to call out my name in worry, but she ended up saying someone else's instead, "Dazai-san!"

Then she fainted.

What?

 _ **It's a side effect. Nothing to worry about.**_

 _Riiiggghhhht._

I sighed.

I could definitely hear Dazai now, which was a good thing since his ability would render Akutagawa's useless. Unfortunately, I fell in a way that kept me from seeing anything happening behind me. Which was everything.

Thankfully, I could still hear. I was still debating if that was a good thing.

I learned my brother had a seven billion yen bounty on his head.

That Port Mafia was a large and powerful operation.

That said operation declared war on the Armed Detective Agency.

That…

That Dazai was once a part of the Mafia.

It was at this time that Mira chose this as the perfect time to reactivate my nociceptor. It's safe to say I promptly passed out from the onslaught of pain.

~.~.~.~

 _The subject didn't destabilize._

It's a pleasant surprise.

 _Hopefully it will stay that way and progress._

There is no guarantee it will happen again.

 _Then we'll make it happen._


	7. Activate: Autoplay

**CHAPTER 7**

Embroidery.

The handicraft of decorating a piece of fabric with the use of a needle and thread or yarn.

At this time and age, such practices seemed almost trivial. The tedious work would have repelled most and has indeed done so. Embroidery was quickly being left behind the times, unfortunately.

However, for someone who has lived in a state of Nothingness, embroidery was a boon. Between the life threatening training in the night and the demanding chores in the day, embroidery served as an outlet. The monotony proved to be soothing.

The matron was the one to teach me the craft when I had first shown interest. I was one of her favorites and the perks of such a position was beneficial. I found the activity to be fascinating as I had never done it before in my first life.

I was always on the move and the thought of sitting down for hours on end threading a needle through fabric seemed… intriguing. Aside from training, mandatory chores, and reading, I spent the rest of my time doing embroidery.

I had learned enough of the craft for the matron to gift me a set, so I would be able to make my own embroidered handkerchief unsupervised. It was a novelty, really. It was the first thing I legitimately learned from scratch in this life and the thought of progressing to independability was pride inducing.

I had set about my work two days ago and was nowhere near to finishing, but I was determined to complete the handkerchief. I planned on embroidering Atsushi's name with a chibi tiger right next to it. Until he understood why I associated him with a tiger, it would just be my own little inside joke.

Reclining on my futon with my feet tucked to the side, I peacefully weaved my needle through the handkerchief fabric, stitching out the outline of Atsushi's name.

The door opened with a squeak and a pair of feet shuffled in before the closing door with an audible click. I did not look up from my work, already knowing that it was my six year old brother. Atsushi didn't say anything as he walked over to me and settled down by my side.

The room was filled with silence and I made no effort in speaking as I focused on my work. After a moment, Atsushi's body suddenly slumped as he weakly asked, "Do you think I'm useless?"

I barely flinched as the needle pierced my skin, allowing my blood to swell up to the surface. Casually wiping away the bead of blood on my pants, I set down my items and turned towards my twin. I blinked in surprise when I saw his face, "Who did that to you?"

Atsushi nervously cradled his cheek where I could see a bruise already forming, "I… I fell."

I mercilessly poked his bruising cheek and ignored his pained yelp, "We do not tell lies to one another, Tsu-kun."

I stared at him expectantly until he hesitantly answered, "Satoshi-san punished me."

"Was he the one who called you useless?" I asked, thinking back on a man who had volunteered to help at the orphanage and became a permanent worker. He currently lived within the orphanage due to certain circumstances. My twin flinched and whispered out a small, "Yes."

I hummed before pulling Atsushi underneath the blanket of the futon and tucking him in, "I see."

Atsushi didn't protest at my babying and instead, snuggled into the sheets as he curled into a ball. I stared down at him, "Do you believe him?"

He stared dumbfoundedly at me, "I… I don't… know..."

"I for one think anything that comes out of Satoshi's mouth is utter bullshit." I said, my expression serene despite my vulgar words, "He's a pitiful man who takes his anger out on orphans just because he has financial problems and is too much of a dumbass to deal with it."

"B-But.."

"Listen here, Tsu-kun." I said firmly, "Unless I say otherwise, any negative bullshit coming from the adults are to be taken with a grain of salt. Only my words are to be taken seriously, understand?"

Atsushi nodded and I patted his head, "Until I say you're useless, you're anything but, alright?"

"Alright."

I patted him one last time before standing up and picking up my little kit. Atsushi watched me, "Where are you going?"

"Somewhere. I'll be back in a few minutes, so go to sleep." I answered before leaving our room, sewing kit in hand.

A few hours later, a certain caretaker had been rushed to the hospital. Somehow, a needle found its way inside his pillow and with a stroke of unfortunate luck, he had laid down in a way that drove the needlepoint straight into his eye.

Incidentally, it was the day the matron stopped assigning caretakers to us. It was also the day Atsushi became wary of me whenever I looked remotely calm. It was the day they realized how much of a monster I could really be.

It was the day I realize the monster I've become.

 _BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG-_

I woke up to the sound of gunshots, a sound that I did not welcome.

My body moved as if on autopilot, sitting up before I even realized what I was doing. Almost mechanically, I stood up and left what seemed to be an infirmary. Everything passed by me in a daze as I found myself walking towards the gunshots.

My mind did not take notice of the bodies littering the hallway and instead, walked right over them unblinkingly. I stood at the doorframe and smiled serenely at the chaos before me.

"Brat?!" Kunikida yelled out in shock the moment he noticed me. The rest of the members immediately picked up on my presence and let out varying degrees of shock and worry as they fought the intruders. I paid them no mind. Instead, my sights locked onto three strangers that acted as the leaders. They took advantage of the lapse in attention to attack my allies.

A genteel smile stretched across my lips as I spoke for the first time, "Hello, Mafia scum."

I blacked out.

~.~.~.~

A Failure. The subject has become increasingly unstable.

 _She will get better._

You've broken protocol to do this.

 _I do not care for the consequences._

You would risk everything for her?

 _She is mine._

She is not yours.

 _She is mine now._

They will not be happy when They find out you are meddling.

 _I do not care._

Why her? There are others.

 _You know why._

… I see I cannot dissuade you.

 _What will you do?_

Nothing. I will keep Them from finding out so soon.

 _Thank you._

Anything for you. But this cannot go on forever.

 _She will improve._

But will she be successful?

 _I have faith in her._

~.~.~.~

It was so dark, I couldn't see anything. It was as if I was floating on air.

Was I in the Void?

No, not the Void.

I could hear voices other than the Voices. One of the voices was calling out to me, but I couldn't hear. The sound was muffled and I could barely make out the words.

Who are you? What are you saying?

My eyes were open, but I couldn't see a thing. I could hear, but I couldn't understand what was being said. I knew I wasn't dead, but it didn't feel like I was alive either. It was as if I was in a state of limbo.

The voice was yelling again.

I strained to hear the words that were failing to reach me. This time the voice was less muffled and sounded familiar. Why was it familiar?

I didn't know, but I continued to try and make sense of it's words.

It was saying… my name. Yes, my name. And it was telling me to… stop? Stop what? I wasn't doing anything. Just floating in a void that wasn't the Void.

But why was I here in the first place?

I paused at the thought.

How did I get here? Where was here in the first place?

Wait… I know this. I experienced this before… But when? What happened then?

I… I… I blacked out.

And the only time I black out is when-

"AKIRA SNAP OUT OF IT!"

I blinked and suddenly found myself staring at my brother's terrified face. My brows furrowed in confusion, "Tsu-kun? Where are-"

A pained groan interrupted me and I was jerked out of my dazed state as I registered my surroundings. We were at the headquarters and I couldn't help but notice the sorry state it was in. The walls were riddled with bullet holes and the windows were completely shattered. Bodies were strewn all across the room with various degrees of injuries.

Speaking of bodies...

I brought my attention to the old man beneath me, his arm bent at a painfully awkward angle in my mercilessly vice grip. In my other hand, I held a pair of scissors, dripping with blood. I looked back at my brother.

Atsushi had his hands spread out as if to stop me from getting passed him. Behind him were the members of the Detective Agency. I blinked at my brothers protective stance in front of the people who were staring at us incredulously, "Tsu-kun, what are you-"

"Please don't hurt them!" He yelled out desperately, his eyes wide and pleading. I dropped the bloody scissors on another body -probably the one I had stabbed considering the puddle of blood pouring out of the redhead's side- and let go of the old man who let out a whimper.

"What are you-"

"They're our-our allies! Y-You don't go after allies, right?! They were p-protecting me!"

Oh.

I let out a sardonic smile as I stared at my brother's shaking form, "No, I don't hurt allies."

Is this what happened to the caretakers back at the orphanage? Did I attack them after I blacked out? Was that why everyone was fearful of me for a time? No wonder.

I bent down and wiped the blood off of my hands with the old man's expensive looking coat. Taking in a deep breath, I looked back at my 'allies', "Is anyone hurt?"

"You…" Kunikida started, a hard and calculating expression on his face. I ignored that and zeroed in on his left hand that was currently bleeding. It didn't look like it was from a bullet wound.

"I hurt you." I said, staring at the wound. Atsushi looked nervously between the two of us, "He was trying to stop you from…"

He trailed off, but I didn't urge him to continue. I simply nodded and held out a hand, prompting Kunikida. He let out an irritated sigh and placed his hand in mine, muttering about expenses and reconstruction. Atsushi looked dubiously at Kunikida the more he ranted, but I tuned them out.

Mira healed the hand without a word and I was left with pain pulsing in my left hand. Retracting my appendage, I backed up but didn't go near Atsushi. I didn't know if he would welcome my presence at the moment.

"Well that was an unexpected turn of events." The man with the hat whistled with a grin, "Imagine my surprise when the previously unconscious girl suddenly appeared and started beating people up with a pair of blunt office scissors."

I resisted the urge to twitch and instead coldly replied, "My apologies. I was not in the right state of mind."

I don't even remember what I _did_.

"What's done is done. It doesn't matter." The woman with the butterfly hairclip let out a loud sigh as she grumbled, "Using machine guns was a bit over the top though... It's your turn to go around the neighborhood with apologies and gifts, Kunikida-kun."

He let out an irritated sigh as he stared into his notebook, "So it _is_ the worst case scenario."

The blonde boy with the straw hat called over to Kunikida-san, "What should we do with them?"

"Throw them out the window." Kunikida promptly answered in a completely serious tone. The boy grinned happily, "Roger."

I couldn't help but watch the boy in wonder as conversation flowed around me. How could he be so unaffected with throwing people out the window? After a second of watching him, I shrugged and moved to help.

I walked over to the redhead I probably stabbed and pulled him up by his underarms. He grimaced in pain as I moved him towards the window. Glancing at the wound, I let out a sigh and quietly muttered, "I'm sorry."

I did not need to prompt Mira as she took her cue and healed him. When I was sure he wouldn't die from the blood loss, I took a deep breath and tossed him out the window. Not stopping to see him land, I went about collecting all of the bodies and handing them to the blonde who had a much easier time lifting the bodies out the window.

By the time we were finished, my arms were sore. I stretched out my arms and was about to ask them what else I could do to help when I heard my brother laugh. I whipped around only to stare dumbly at my brother as he cried with a sad smile on his face.

Kunikida scowled, "Hey, if you got the time to laugh-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence because I immediately threw him to the side to get to my brother. Ignoring the man's shout, I wrapped my arms around my brother comfortingly. I ran my clean hand through his hair and cooed softly, "There, there, dear brother."

Kunikida glared indignantly at me which turned into a look in disbelief when he saw my brother, "You're crying…"

Atsushi seemed to snap out of his thoughts and roughly wiped away his tears, hiding his face in my shoulder, "N-No I'm not!"

Kunikida smirked, "You are."

I scowled at him, "Stop picking on my brother or I'll stab you with the scissors again."

"Look at you two." Kunikida sighed in exasperation, "So typical of your generation. Even when given a job, you go running off to play without permission. You cry if anyone gives so much as a word of criticism and go violent when you don't like something."

"That's not true!" Atsushi exclaimed defensively.

"Reeaaally?" Kunikida questioned, unimpressed.

Atsushi argued back, but I kept my mouth shut in favor of observing the people around me. Despite the fact that we barely joined, they were all watching us in various degrees of fondness. Why they were so accepting of strangers, I will never know. We were two teenagers with nothing and they came and gave us something to work with. There was no reason for them to help us.

 _But I'm glad_ , I thought with a soft smile as I watched my brother shyly laugh, _We were being accepted as one of them_.

~.~.~

 **How's it going guys? Miss me? Sorry for the inactivity, but I had a lot of things to take care of. Now that summer's here though, I can start updating my stories like I meant to. How'd you like this chapter? A bit on the short side, but it's acceptable I hope. Feel free to tell me what you guys think, I'm totally open to pointers :)**


	8. Main Quest: Eyes are Windows to the Soul

**I present to you... a new chapter! Thanks for putting up with my lateness guys. You're all awesome for sticking with me.**

 **CHAPTER 8**

The Black Lizard.

That was the group I had apparently fought against alongside the agency. I was not oblivious to the weight the name carried. The Black Lizard was the _Port Mafia's_ military squad, a group of merciless murderers that struck fear in the hearts of men, women, and children alike- and I had fought them. _Me_ , a civilian with nothing but a pair of scissors and my fists.

The idea was unprecedented.

Not for the first time I cursed my blank memory of what had transpired. Atsushi would never tell me and I would not ask the agency members for something as personal as this. I knew I hurt people, but to what extent? How did I fight? Was my personality different? Was I uncontrollable? _Why_ did I black out?

All these questions that may never be answered (or unknowingly has been). I was left with nothing but the aftermath of my unregistered actions. I was dangerous, I knew that much. I also knew that Atsushi could stop me to a point before I went too far. But what if he couldn't stop me? What if I kept going and did something I would regret? There was no telling what I would do in that state and that is what terrifies me.

The unknown.

I stared at my left hand, feeling the last traces of the stabbing pain from Kunikida's injury fade away. Frowning, I clenched my fist and shook away my thoughts. I would think about this later.

Moving away from my position at the wall, I walked over to the woman with the butterfly hairclip. The woman noticed me and sent a questioning look, so I put on a smile with practiced ease and asked, "Is there anything I can help with?"

She frowned before looking around, "You just regained consciousness, so stay away from the heavy lifting. Why don't you sweep the floor?"

Neither of us mentioned the fact that I had beaten up grown men just after regain my consciousness and still seemed to be functioning perfectly. Lifting some boxes and books hardly seemed like a challenge compared to that.

Without relaying any of my thoughts aloud, I nodded and went to collect a broom. Assigning myself a corner, I began clearing the floor of debris as I absentmindedly listened to the conversation around me.

Atsushi seemed to have calmed down after his little episode. I was immensely glad that he hadn't reverted back to being subtly distrustful of me and subconsciously avoiding skin contact. I wouldn't know what to do if that had happened. He had just gotten used to my own episodes.

Sweeping everything into a pile, I returned to the woman who wordlessly handed me a dustpan. I stared at the relatively small object before shrugging and going back to my corner. It wasn't as if I could do anything else to help.

I still wasn't completely sure of what was going on. The last thing I remember was the fight with the Mafia bastard and fainting. The next thing I know, I'm in the agency with my brother begging me not to hurt the members. It was quite disorienting to say the least and I didn't really get the chance to get an explanation.

Atsushi would probably tell me if I really tried to make him, but I had the feeling that he would censor a lot in the retelling of events. I knew that he only did it to 'keep me safe and innocent', but really, I wanted to know what exactly went on. I only know two triggers that would cause the blackouts and if there was anymore, I was hard pressed to find out. I needed to keep this kind of weakness in check. For the safety of others.

The blackouts weren't anything new. They happened in my previous life, but the times it happened was significantly less. This life was simply too dangerous, especially since the presence of guns were generally expected. I only had one trigger back then, the endangerment of my family and that rarely happened. Unfortunately, my untimely death had created a second, guns.

I could only guess my most recent blackout was due to the Mafiosi and their machine guns. Seeing a gun... I could deal with. I could control my reactions to a point, but should the gun go off… I can only hope Atsushi is there to calm me down.

I hated this aspect of me. The stupid handicap that no one could explain. I hated not knowing what I would do. I hated how this burden carried on to the next life. I hated how I couldn't feel guilty for hurting people because in my eyes, I didn't hurt them. I didn't remember doing so. I hated how… how it takes my humanity from me without warning.

It's a terrible feeling. To lose one's sense of self and not even realize it until it's all over and done. The only saving grace was the fact that in that state, I'm somehow able to differentiate who are my allies and who aren't.

I would sooner kill myself than unwittingly murder my brother with no recollection of doing so.

Heaving out an inaudible sigh, I was able to bring my attention back just in time to notice my brother was following the man with the hat while signalling for me to follow almost frantically. Setting the dustpan down, I quickly followed after them.

Atsushi seemed to recognize my clueless expression as I approached and explained the situation to me. Apparently the man with the hat, now known as Ranpo, had a job to do and we were to help him. I was confused as to why he would need the help of two clueless newbies to solve a murder case- That is, until we arrived at the train station.

The man seemed completely clueless as to how things worked. Even purchasing tickets and locating the correct platform. Admittedly, navigating through the station to get to the right platform was confusing at times, but to not know anything at all? I call bullshit. This guy has been in this area for far longer than we have. Surely he's gone on the train long enough to know what to do.

Sighing at the weirdness of this world, I decided to just go with it. No use in questioning things that will probably be left unanswered. The trip on the train was uneventful. Atsushi had fallen asleep on my shoulder at one point and Ranpo was still fixated on his 'marble'. Ranpo hummed under his breath and I was stuck staring out the window as the scenery zoomed by.

It was awkward.

Well, for me at least. I'm someone who talked a lot, whether it be to others or inside the safety of my mind. I wasn't comfortable enough with Ranpo to start a random conversation and there wasn't much to think about. I couldn't even sleep because I was too paranoid. With nothing to do, I was left awkwardly sitting on my seat with a numbed shoulder and twitching fingers wanting to do _something_. It was torture.

"Sooo… Who taught you how to fight?"

Well. I guess _he_ was comfortable enough to start random conversations.

I turned my head away from the window and asked, "Pardon?"

Ranpo sent me a cheery grin that reminded me of a fox, "You seemed experienced when you fought the men. I was wondering who taught you."

"I'm self taught." I answered semi-truthfully. He hummed in interest, "You fought quite efficiently for someone who is self taught."

I put on the customary smile, "I'm flattered you think so."

Ranpo inspected his marble as he rolled it between his fingers, "You and your brother are from an orphanage?"

"That is correct." I replied with a short nod, careful not to dislodge my brother. Ranpo paused and looked up from his marble, fox-grin still in place, "I can't imagine how hard it was to get the information needed to learn how to fight in such a setting."

I wanted a nice conversation, not a thinly veiled interrogation. Was that too much to ask?

I smiled happily at him, resisting the urge to duck tape his mouth, "I'd prefer to keep that information private if that's alright with you."

Ranpo laughed, "Ah. Sorry if I was being too forward."

"It's fine." I shook my head politely, "But I believe it'll be better if you avoid asking Atsushi such questions about the orphanage. They're memories best left forgotten in the past."

"I see. Is it alright if I ask about your ability? I'm quite curious..."

"Of course." I laughed lightly, rubbing my arm, "I don't have anything as amazing as Atsushi's or any of the members of the agency. I can heal myself and others, but I can't really control it. It's a minor ability, really."

"Don't be so modest." Ranpo smiled as he leaned onto the window, "I was told quite differently, you know. Not many survive Akutagawa's attack as you did. Especially a direct one."

I smiled bitterly, "I shouldn't have gotten hit in the first place."

There weren't obvious signs, but I knew that Atsushi was still terrified that I was going to die. For one, that fear was what helped him get over his fear of me snapping and flying off the handle. Another reason would be that he refused to let me out of his sights.

Usually, Atsushi would be fine going on this trip with just him and Ranpo. He's never had a problem with staying away from me for long periods of time, like when he was kicked out of the orphanage. However, he made it a point to catch my attention and urged me to follow when he was leaving. There were many other subtle cues that would support that fact, but one would have to know him extremely well to notice. Like me, his twin.

I don't know how to explain it. It's a more instinctual sense, which makes it hard to describe in detail. It's something about how he walks slightly in front of me, but stays on my left so I'd have room to effectively move with my dominant hand. Or how wherever he's standing, he's always slightly angled in a way that he'd be able to see me in his peripheral vision. There's also the fact that he subtly ensured that no one stood between us no matter the distance. There were so many others, but those were the ones I noticed the most.

Even now, he refuses to let me sit next to the aisle where people could get to me. It was adorable really. I bet he wouldn't even let me go to the restroom without him standing outside or something. Of course, that would be where I would cross the line, but the thought of it was endearing.

… Oh. I just realized I had spaced off mid-conversation with Ranpo. My bad.

I was quick to return my focus back to him, but he didn't seem to mind my lapse in attention. He had gone back to messing around with his marble. I inwardly winced at my social blunder but shrugged it off. The rest of the trip was spent in silence, a slightly less awkward silence.

It wasn't long before we arrived at our location. Atsushi and I obediently followed after Ranpo as he weaved around the policemen and cars. We were promptly greeted by a heavily scowling man with piercing, judgemental eyes, "You're late, agents."

Ranpo frowned in confusion, "Oh, who are you?"

Atsushi was watching the conversation over Ranpo's shoulder, looking a bit intimidated by the scowling man. I stepped out from behind the both of them to get a better view of the man. It was then that I noticed the younger looking man saluting us nervously beside the man. I felt my mouth pull into a frown as I observed the stiff looking officer as his eyes darted between the three of us.

"What's wrong?" Atsushi whispered. I ignored the fact that Atsushi once again moved to stand slightly in front of me and replied lowly so only he and Ranpo would hear, "I don't like his eyes."

I really didn't, but I couldn't figure out why. It just bothered me for some reason. They were a common shade of dark brown that contained human emotions, unlike the blonde bitch. There was something about them, though… how they… wavered? I don't know and it was frustrating me. I mean, his face was fairly attractive. He was also-

I was thrown out of my musings when Atsushi swiftly positioned himself directly in front of me, though he made an effort to be subtle. His stance was hardly counted as brave or determined. In fact, it looked as if a gust of wind could blow him over. My frown grew deeper as I whispered, "What are you doing?"

I couldn't see his face, but could clearly hear the solemness in his voice as he whispered back, "You didn't like Satoshi-san's eyes either."

I paused at the memory of the man who was later found out to be part of human trafficking after I had permanently damaged his eye via needle. Technically it was my fault because the inability to pay for the hospital bill was what drove him to participate in such activities. That and he was dirt poor. So really, the guy couldn't be _completely_ blamed.

"And?" I asked, thoroughly confused as to why Satoshi was brought up. Atsushi didn't miss a beat, "I noticed you staring at Higuchi-san too. You didn't like her eyes either, right?"

I blinked. How did he pick up on that? I guess he was more perceptive than what I gave him credit for. I stared at my brother, "Your point?"

"You have a sixth sense about these things, Kira-chan."

No, I didn't. That wasn't me having a sixth sense. That was just me being judgemental.

Any further whispered conversation was put on pause when Ranpo loudly proclaimed that, "All the difficult cases in the world should be overseen by a great detective."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the sheer arrogance dripping from his voice. However… it can't really be called arrogance if what Atsushi told me about his ability is true. All-knowing intelligence is a powerful ability to wield.

Atsushi looked nervously between the man and Ranpo as the man glared. After a second, the man frowned, "We don't need private investigators today… Because the victim is my subordinate."

It was hard not to notice the grief in his voice. The man genuinely cared for the victim and that earned him brownie points from me. The man jerked his head towards the still saluting officer who quickly revealed the body of the victim.

Atsushi tensed at the scene, but forced himself to relax. I silently took his hand into my own to comfort him as we stood before the corpse. She was a beautiful woman. If I hadn't known better, I would say she was peacefully sleeping. Of course, the bloodstains said otherwise.

I took my eyes off her to watch Ranpo and the man converse, urging Atsushi to do the same. I had the incredibly strong urge to whisk my brother away from the sight of the corpse and tuck him in our futon, away from the ugliness of life. Unfortunately, I knew that he -and I- would have to get used to it one way or another. At least the woman wasn't killed in a gruesome way. That was something at least.

Ranpo respectfully took off his hat and put it over his chest, "... A lady."

"She was found floating in the river this morning." I twitched when the young officer spoke. His voice was so childish sounding, as if he still hadn't gone through puberty. The voice didn't fit the face and somehow clashed with his dark eyes.

"She was shot three times in the chest." My attention turned to the older man when he continued, his voice underlined with anger and grief, "We don't know where or when he was killed. We haven't even found any clues."

"Any suspects?" Ranpo asked.

The man's dark eyes were alight with a burning fire of determination, contrasting with his neutral expression. Even his voice had evened out, not giving away his emotions. I watched in curiosity as the man stared at the corpse, "No. As far as anyone in the office knows, she was not in a relationship either."

I let out a sigh as the conversation flew over my head. I couldn't make sense of anything going on here. Clearly, I wasn't cut out to be a detective because I was drawing up blanks and it doesn't seem like that'll change anytime soon. Atushi, on the other hand, seemed really determined to understand what was going on- not that he was successful either.

I gave a mental shrug and wandered off towards the riverbank where a few officers were clustered around a yellow machine. Curious, I walked up to one and asked, "What are you doing?"

The officer with warm chocolate eyes gave me a concerned look, "Aren't you a bit young to be on cases like this?"

I shook my head with a polite smile, "I'm a trainee, so I need the experience. This was the most harmless one. So… may I ask what you're doing?"

"They get younger and younger every year…" The officer grumbled with a defeated sigh before gesturing towards the large net attached to the yellow machine, "See that net right there? It's currently scraping the bottom of the river to pull any objects up. We're currently trying to salvage any kind of clue that may have fallen into the river pertaining to the case."

"Is this a standard procedure?" I asked. The officer smiled at me, "Sure is. Ah, look. They're hauling up the net right now."

I watched in interest as the net was slowly retracted from the water, containing a variety of objects such as plants, cans, Dazai, plastic bottles, boxes, mud, and… wait a minute.

"It's a man!" The officer exclaimed in shock the same time I realized just _who_ was caught in the nets, "We have a man in the nets!"

I gritted my teeth in irritation and growled lowly as my brother and the others ran up towards us. Taking in a deep breath, I practically roared at the man tangled within the nets, "DAZAI YOU SUICIDAL MOTHERFUCKER! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

I glared at him as he shot me a clueless smile while hanging upside-down. With a heavy scowl, I roughly grabbed his collar and tightly fisted my hands. Dazai chuckled airily, his face flushed from his hanging position, "Ah, Akira-chan. Fancy seeing you her-"

With a heave, I harshly yanked him out of the nets and sent him flying into the unforgiving ground. The groan that came from the pathetic heap of human flesh was like music to my ears. Atsushi stared incredulously at us, "A-Another drowning attempt?"

" _Another_?!" I practically screeched. Dazai laughed cheerfully from his place on the floor, "Ah, there's the temper. I was wondering where it went."

I roughly kicked him in the shins, "You tried to kill yourself again!"

"No surprise there." Atsushi muttered underneath his breath as Dazai yelped.

The bastard had the gall to smile patronizingly at me as he waved a finger, "What, committing suicide alone? That's so passe. I have come to realize that if I am to die…" Dazai smiled dreamily, "I will die with a beautiful lady! Ah~ A double suicide. What a nice ring it has!"

"You perverted bastard." I growled. Dazai sniffed at me and pretended not to hear as he continued on with a bland voice before perking up near the end, "In comparison, it feels so empty to bid this world farewell all by my lonesome. So… I'm currently on the lookout for a beautiful woman who will die with me!"

Atsushi stared blankly at Dazai, "Huh?… Then what was the net about?"

Dazai smirked arrogantly as he stood up, "I was simply drifting down the river!"

"I see…" Atsushi muttered in exasperation. I glared at him, "I don't."

Dazai shrugged with a 'what can you do?' expression on his face before blinking at us, "By the way, what are you guys doing out here?"

Atsushi sighed, "We're on a job."

Dazai cocked his head to the side, "A job? What kind?"

The second Dazai was informed of the situation, I regretted everything. My eye twitched as I watched the idiot agonized over the corpse about lost opportunities. The man, who I finally found out was named Minouchi, stared judgingly at Dazai, "Who the hell is he?"

Ranpo, whom I forgot was even there, answered nonplussed, "A colleague at the agency. That's just how he is."

"But rest in peace, milady!" Dazai cried out dramatically, "An extraordinary detective will avenge you. Right, Ranpo-san?"

"But I have yet to get the job itself." Ranpo answered as a matter of factly. Dazai blinked and turned to face us, "Huh? Why?"

Ranpo casually pointed towards Minouchi, "Ask this man."

Said man frowned, "We have no need for private investigators. In fact, all my subordinates are far superior than any private detective."

While I knew that was true regarding my brother and I, the insult still bothered me. I focused my ire on him, "Hey now-"

"Oh!" Ranpo effectively cut off my oncoming verbal smackdown with an exclamation as he pointed at the young officer I completely disregarded, "What's your name?"

The officer jumped when the attention was suddenly brought towards him. The officer promptly saluted as he started to sweat from nervousness, "I am Sergeant Sugimoto! The victim, Ms. Yamagiwa, was my senior colleague."

"Alright, Sugimura-kun!" Ranpo patted the officer on the shoulder with his fox grin in place, "Solve this case in sixty seconds, starting now."

"What?!" Sugimoto's jaw dropped, too shocked to even think to correct Ranpo on his name. Ranpo smiled predatorily at the officer, "I can do it under a minute. If you're as good as he says you are, you should be able to do the same."

"Wow. Can he really do that?" Atsushi whispered to me in amazement. I shrugged and whispered back, "Probably, if he's using his ability."

Ranpo turned to smile at Minouchi who frowned indignantly. Without looking away, Ranpo cheerfully said, "Okay, give it a try, Sugimura-kun!"

The next few seconds was amusing to watch as Sugimoto flailed around like a headless chicken. Snickering, I nudged my brother and whispered, "That's you."

Atsushi answered with a sulky pout.

Fifteen seconds in, Sugimoto finally got his shit together and started listing out facts and theories. I didn't bother to pay much attention since I knew I wouldn't be able to help even if I tried. Instead, I chose to observe Dazai as he swayed from side to side with a happy smile on his face. God, the eccentricity is too much for me to handle.

Not a second after I had that thought, Dazai's expression radically changed. I blinked in surprise.

Ah… His eyes had that look again.

"That's not true." Dazai cut in monotonously, his expression cold, "The Port Mafia's retaliatory methods are as highly specific as a government-issued ID. First, the traitor is made to bite the curb, then they kick in the back of his head to shatter his jaw. As their victim is writhing in agony, they flip him over and… then shoot him in the chest three times."

Atsushi flinched as the image played over in his mind while I studied man closely. Did you do that to someone before, Dazai? Is that why your expression is so cold and your eyes in so much pain? Do you regret all you've done as a Mafioso? Do you remember their faces the moment you kil-

I breathed out slowly.

My hands clenched into fists as I fought to calm the raging emotions within me. Now was not the time to confront him with the information I had learned.

Sugimoto frowned at Dazai, "If we're being specific, yes, but…"

"So this M.O. is similar to the Mafia's but not the same." Dazai stated blankly, his eyes void of emotion, "So that means…"

Minoura immediately caught on, "An attempt at a cover-up?"

"Shooting two extra rounds into the body just for that?" Sugimoto said solemnly, his dark eyes lowered to the ground, "How cruel."

"BOO!" Ranpo jumped from behind Sugimoto, causing the officer to jerk backwards with a yelp. In doing so, he ended up closer to us. Atsushi promptly maneuvered us to have Dazai standing in between Sugimoto and us. Atsushi didn't seem to notice Dazai's questioning glance since he was too busy staring intensely at Sugimoto.

"Cut the crap!" Minoura suddenly shouted.

Huh? What did I miss? When did Ranpo get glasses? What was going on?

"' _I see'_ , my ass." Minoura grumbled angrily, "You're trying to imply you know who the killer is?"

Ranpo smiled confidently, "Of course."

"Hah?" The man glared. Atsushi stopped his intense stare to blink confusedly at Ranpo, "You do?"

"The killer…" Ranpo trailed off dramatically before slowly raising his hand to point at Sugimoto, "... is you."

Minoura stared at his younger colleague in disbelief. Ranpo smirked, his eyes staring straight into the man "Yes, that's right. The killer is you, Sergeant Sugimoto."

I was suddenly hit with the vivid color of a dark forest green. I couldn't help but stare into Ranpo's eyes as they talked. Never in my life had I ever seen green eyes, which was unfortunate because they were _absolutely beautiful_.

"What?!" Atsushi squeaked out in horror. I snapped myself out of my trance and blinked blankly at my brother, "Uh… Did I say that out loud?"

" _Yes you did_!" Atsushi yelled in a whisper, his eye twitching up a storm, "Sugimoto-san was just accused and all you can do is stare at Ranpo-san's eyes?!"

"They're not _just_ eyes!" I gasped scandalized before grabbing Atsushi by the sides of his face and forcing him to face Ranpo's direction, "They're _green_ eyes."

"Yeah, yeah." Atsushi grumbled sulkily as he stared at Ranpo, "At least we know he's trustworthy if you like them so much. I don't get it, he opened his eyes for like five seconds and closed them again. How did you manage to get a glimpse?"

I rolled my eyes and let go of my brother's face, "Forget it."

He pouted at me, "What's so special about gre-"

"Show him your gun!"

My body completely froze up at Minouchi's words, my eyes wide as I stared at Sugimoto. Atsushi frowned worriedly at me, his hand hovering over my arm, "Kira-chan, are you alright?"

"Show us your gun, now!" Minoura yelled at Sugimoto who was staring down at the ground unresponsively. Ranpo watched the proceedings with a knowing smile.

"Yeah… hopefully.." I said weakly, nervously eying the holster at Sugimoto's hip. Panic seemed to wash over Atsushi's face the moment he realized the situation, "Akira… Akira, listen. You have t-to… to turn around, okay? Cover up your ears and close your eyes, alright? Please, you have to do it right now!"

"That's right, Sugimoto." Minouchi softly beckoned as Sugimoto slowly placed his hands on his holster, his eyes shadowed by his hair. I couldn't take my eyes off of his hands even as Atushi desperately yelled for me to turn around. Dazai turned around to look at us in concern, "What's wrong with you guys?"

"Cover her eyes!" Atsushi answered as he lunged at me, hands reaching up to blind me. But it was too late, I saw it. With the way Atsushi was acting, you'd think something terrible would happen. But it didn't. In fact, I've never felt calmer as I watched Sugimoto wrap his fingers around the handle.

My body seemingly relaxed as my eyes traced his every movement. Atsushi's voice faded into the background along with everything else. Dazai made a movement as if to catch my attention, but I ignored him. I could deal with him later when there wasn't something holding my attention.

I stared intently at the gun as it was pulled out of the holster. Then Sugimoto went and swung it to point the gun towards Ranpo. And suddenly, things didn't feel calm at all.

I didn't realize I had moved until after I had spun my body and slammed my heel into Sugimoto's wrist. There was an audible crack and my brother promptly appeared to restrain him, but I paid them no mind. Instead, I kept my eyes on the gun that was sent flying from his hand and onto the ground.

I found myself walking over to the discard firearm and kneeling down to stare at the revolver. My hand slowly reached down to hover over the metal surface. Absentmindedly, I wondered if it would be better if I were to shoot the officer. Not to kill him, of course- unless the situation proved necessary.

I could shoot his shoulders so he won't be able to use his hands or I could shoot a knee so he'd be unable to walk properly. It would certainly prevent him from hurting anyone else in the foreseeable future. In fact, that sounded like the most efficient plan in preventing violence.

My hand moved to grab the gun, but instead of touching cold metal, I felt skin. Blinking, I looked at to see Ranpo smiling down at me, his hand pulling the gun away from me, "I can't have you killing him like those other men, Akira-chan. You seem more aware this time around, surely you understand why, hmm?"

Of course I knew, which was why I was only going to immobilize him. Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly do so without a gun, so Ranpo would have to hand it over. Without answering him, my hand shot out to retrieve the weapon.

"Careful now." Ranpo said with his foxy grin as he jumped back. I took a deep breath before smiling kindly at him, "Ranpo-san, if you would please hand over the gun…"

"At-su-shi-kuuun~" Ranpo called out cheerfully, ignoring me, "Your sister is smiling at me with an evil look in her eye."

"Akira, stop it!" I heard Atsushi shout out from behind me. I frowned, leaning forward in preparation of a lunge, "But-"

"I. Said. Stop!" My brother said firmly, coming up to stand in front of me. He sent me a stern look with his hands on his hips, "I know for a fact that you're aware of what's going on. Restrain your violent urges and move on like you always do."

I straightened myself to argue back, "But Sugimoto will-"

"You don't _really_ need to hurt him, right?" Atsushi said with a raised eyebrow. I paused, "Well it's not completely necessary, but-"

"No buts." Atsushi cut me off, "Sugimoto-san has been arrested, there's nothing for you to do. Right now, I want you to calm down and close your eyes."

"Atsushi, you can't possib-" I started to protest.

"Close them."

"I refu-"

"Now."

I heave out a heavy sigh before reluctantly closing my eyes. I petulantly crossed my arms and asked, "Now what?"

"Okay, now imagine you're in your happy place. I want you to picture yourself cuddled up inside our futon... Take a deep breath... and imagine all the feelings you associate with the futon." I heard Atsushi's voice speak soothingly, "You're wrapped up in the blanket. It's warm… soft… and fluffy-"

"-as a cloud." I sighed happily.

"Good, keep that feeling in mind." Atsushi praised, "Now I want you to open your eyes on the count of three. One… Two.. Three…"

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked rapidly to adjust to the lighting. I was surprised to see that only Dazai, Atsushi, and I were here. I stared at my brother, "Where did everyone go?"

"Back to the station." Dazai answered with a smile, "We have a car waiting for us, so let's get to it!"

The ride to the station was absolutely boring. The time sitting around in the station while Ranpo was taking care of business was even worse. It gave me too much time to think about my actions. I always found it creepy how normal it all was to me.

I expected some radical personality change or something. Instead, I got something else. Something that I saw as completely normal and not in the least bit strange. I could only guess it was a glimpse of what I was like during my blackouts. Atsushi hasn't given away enough for me to confirm.

The way back home wasn't exactly as boring as the trip before. Atsushi and I were given the most mindblowing discovery ever. Ranpo was a genius. An honest to god genius who had no special ability. My respect for the man skyrocketed to unknown heights when I found out.

"No wonder his eyes were so pretty to you." Atsushi later mumbled as we snuggled into the futon. I smiled, "Me liking his eyes has nothing to do with his intelligence, Tsu-kun."

"Suuuure." Atsushi mumbled sleepily. I rolled my eyes with a chuckle and ran a hand through his hair, "I think your eyes are the prettiest. They're a beautiful shade of Ametrine."

I was rewarded with a beatific smile.

Mirroring his smile, I kissed his forehead, "Good night, Tsu-kun."

"G'night." He mumbled back sleepily.

With a content sigh, I snuggled into my brother and went to sleep.

~.~.~.~

 _Thank you for helping her when I wasn't there._

The wellbeing of the subject is paramount. I was only doing my job.

 _Still. Thank you._

She's improving, if only by a little.

 _I'm glad._

We can only hope she'll be a success.

 _She won't be like the others._

Hopefully. Shall we initiate Phase 1?

 _Yes._

 _~.~.~_

 **X Dandylion X: Hehehe, me too man. I can just see everyone mourning her death and she'll just pop back up with a, "Who died while I was out?" The detailed of the reveal of her true ability is still being worked on at the moment, but trust me when I say it'll be dramatic af. Or comedic. Really depends on my mood when I detail all that out lol**

 **Hallosouuul: Everyone has something broken inside of them and Akira is no exception. I haven't put much emphasis into it, but I do see the twin's childhood affecting them both mentally in different ways. Atsushi wants freedom and independence where he can live an easy life, even if he ends up hurting someone else without thinking (this case being him leaving Akira in multiple occasions without thought). Akira, on the other hand, has separation issues and clings to Atsushi because he was all she had in the darkness. Isolation is never good for one's state of mind, especially for an extended period of time. At this point in time, their relationship is a bit more on the unhealthy side, as you have noticed. Hopefully, it'll change in the future.**

 **xXGemini14Xx: Ah yes, I did name Akira's ability after one of the real Nakajima Atsushi's published works. I figured I had to stick to the theme somehow, you know? Hopefully you didn't cringe too much ahahahaha...**

 **Gingerljf175: While I do read an unhealthy amount of romance, I'm not confident enough to establish any relationships on the get go due to my inexperience. I mainly freestyle when it comes to writing my story, so if it somehow comes to a relationship then... well, awesome. For now though, I'm gonna rule out the romance.**

 **For everyone else who reviewed, I'm sorry I didn't have a personal reply for each one of you. I'd just end up repeating the same thing in different wordings. Don't misunderstand though because I'm honestly SOOO HAPPY that you've taken the time to actually read this story of mine despite my horrendous update scheduling. It warms my heart, it really does. Thank you for reading guys, I really mean it :)**


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